Officers were called to Jewry St in Tamworth about 2.30am on Saturday following reports a car had lost control and crashed after hitting a gutter.

A 26-year-old man was allegedly behind the wheel of the Holden Commodore and failed a roadside test.

He was arrested and taken to Tamworth Police Station where officers allege he failed to provide a proper breath sample, after several attempts.

He was charged with failing to provide a breath sample – a charge which attracts the same maximum penalty as high-range drink driving, if convicted.

The man had his licence suspended on the spot to front court later this month. 

A second man was also charged with high-range drink driving after he was stopped on Jean St about 8.50pm on Saturday.

Police allege he blew .200 – four times the legal limit.

A Gunnedah woman was charged with mid-range PCA after she was stopped in Marsh St in Armidale, while another woman also had her licence suspended for the same charge after she was pulled over in Dumaresq St. A Guyra woman was allegedly caught low-range drinking on the New England Highway at Guyra in an unregisterd car.

Head of Western Region highway patrol Inspector Peter McMenamin said local police conducted 3838 RBTs throughout Operation Drink Drive 2 across the Barwon, Oxley and New England areas.

“Across the Western Region, our officers did just over 51,000km, getting us onto all of our back roads to ensure road rule compliance,” he told The Leader.

Police handed out 75 tickets for speeding, 13 infringements for people not wearing seatbelts and another 75 to motorists caught doing the wrong thing. “It's just simple things and it’s driver behaviour. They're choosing not to comply with the most basic of road rules, it's very disappointing,” Inspector McMenamin said. “They’re putting their passengers and every other road user at risk.”