Drink Drive Rockness Crackdown

ROCKNESS revellers on the countdown to the monster music festival are being warned police will be targeting drink drivers travelling to and from the event.

As part of their Summer Safety campaign police say the level of enforcement will be increased and festival goers are being advised not to take any risks by getting behind the wheel after drinking.

The event itself is the biggest music festival in the Highlands and thousands of people travel from all over the country to the tiny Loch Ness-side village of Dores, where the event is held each year.

Now entering it’s sixth term, this year is gearing up to be one to remember with major acts such as Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Paolo Nutini plus Glasvegas set to rock festival performing on different stages across the weekend.

Festival goers will start arriving for RockNess on Thursday and police are hoping the early drink drive message gets through this year and no-one will be caught committing the offence.

Inspector John Smith, Northern Constabulary's head of road policing, said: "We had four people detected drink driving after leaving the 2010 event but that is still four people who put their own and others lives at risk. We will not regard this as positive until every driver we check is tested negative and everyone gets home safely from the event, which we hope will be the case this year."

Inspector Smith added: "If people are planning driving from the event they should remember that alcohol can still be affecting you more than 12 hours after it is consumed, so I would encourage those driving to bear this in mind."

Event organisers have this year included "green" tickets, which include bus travel to and from the event, encouraging more festival goers to leave the car at home.

And this year entry points to the event have been changed slightly.

Inspector Smith said: "This year all cars will turn right at Aldourie School, including taxis and cars with passengers to drop off, where they will be directed to the car park or drop off points. Those dropping off passengers will follow the one way system to meet up with the B862, Dores road, and travel back towards Inverness. Buses will be directed to an entrance point just passed Aldourie School, also following a one way traffic flow to meet with the B862."

He added: "This will remove more vehicles from travelling towards the village of Dores and improve access for those not attending the event, but as always we would ask that people leave plenty of time for their journey as due to the numbers attending the RockNess event there will be more vehicles on the road."

Police wanted to also remind drivers in Inverness to expect an increase in traffic on Friday and next Monday and should allow plenty of time for their journeys for work or access to businesses and services in particularly the area around the Southern Distributor Road.

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