Drink drivers are getting away with breaking the law because police are having to drive them up to an hour and 45 minutes to the nearest custody cells, it has been warned.

An investigation by the Daily Telegraph has found that officers across England and Wales routinely have to drive suspects for more than an hour before they can process their arrest after a third of all custody suites were closed down.

As well as fears that drink drivers are escaping prosecution as they have sobered up on the journey to the station, it has been warned that officers are opting to drive suspects home or simply giving them a ticking off to save time.

Those living furthest from stations say that they are “forgotten towns” where criminals can do as they please.

The number of custody suites across the country has fallen by a third since 2010, from 277 to 180. Just three of the 43 police forces in England and Wales did not provide data from 2010.

An analysis of the data, obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, shows that there are more than 70 towns in England which are more than twenty miles from a police station.