Police are identifying an increased number of drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, largely due to more checks being carried out during the day.

During routine traffic stops, as well as those pertaining to coronavirus restrictions, police are carrying out a greater number of alcohol and drug tests – as more people are seen to be under the influence.

“During these checks, if a member of the police force can tell that a driver is not acting normally in a variety of ways – then we issue these tests,” police spokesman Christos Andreou told the Cyprus Mail on Monday.

He said that: “99 per cent of the time the results are positive, either for drugs or alcohol.”

When asked as to how significant the increase is, Andreou said further investigations were needed to assess the prevalence.

By the nature of the lockdown, with almost all travel restricted after 9pm, the vast number of positive tests are found during the day – in stark contrast to previous trends.

Typically most positives were found at night, he said, but the lockdown may have changed people’s patterns of behaviour.