THE leader of Worcestershire County Council has been charged with drink driving. 

Councillor Adrian Hardman was stopped by police in Tewkesbury as part of a festive operation aimed at tackling drink drivers on Tuesday evening.

The 59-year-old Conservative failed a test and was arrested at around 8pm.

He will appear before Cheltenham magistrates on Monday, January 18.

Councillor Hardman lives in Bredon, the area he represents at County Hall alongside his duties as leader. 

The drink drive arrest could have severe repercussions for his role as leader, a position he has held since November 2010.

The high-profile position takes him far and wide around the county, with its 'open for business' strategy increasingly reliant on close links with private industry.

Until last year he was also part of a small number of councillors responsible for holding police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore to account, on the police and crime panel.

Magistrates can send people to prison for six months, slap them with an unlimited fine and ban them from driving for at least a year if found guilty.

Gloucestershire Police is in the middle of its annual anti-drink drive campaign, which has been pushed heavily by councillors and last year saw 54 people arrested in just four weeks.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: "A 59-year-old man from Bredon was charged with drink driving after he was arrested on Bredon Road, Tewkesbury at around 8pm on Tuesday December 22.

"He will appear before Cheltenham Magistrates Court on January 18."

A spokesman for the county council said the authority did not want to comment on the incident. 

Councillor Hardman also told your Worcester News yesterday that he did not wish to comment.