MGA Scotland and MGA GB Breathalysing machines (Alcosense) identifies the amount of breath you exhale (the breath should not be any less than 1 litre of breath).

The breathalyser uses a format to express as milligrams/% in place of milligrams per 100 mls per blood alcohol concentration, this is calibrated by Alcosense. The breathalysers have to be calibrated every year, which they are.

Blood Alcolhol concentration (BAC) as a percent is 0.8 and equivalent to 35 micrograms as a legal driving limited in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. To be fair to all, Scotland (who has a legal limit of 22 micrograms) follow the same limit as the rest of the UK.

The machine used carries out this calculation and Alcosense set this to the legal driving limit for England, Wales and NI (or as chosen by the user).

The first rider to come up with a positive alcohol reading was 0.51% which is below 0.8% as per calibrated by Alcosense. This may read in a police breathalyser (which is more accurate to the 100th) as 0.051%) for ease of use ours is set to the first 100th. This rider was therefore safe to ride.

The second rider to come up with a positive alcohol reading was 0.96% which is above the 0.8% as per calibrated by Alcosense. In accordance with IMGA protocol and fairness the rider was given a second reading 10 minutes later which recorded 0.95%. The rider was then counselled by a medical practitioner and encouraged to eat and drink which they had not done prior to the test. The rider was then instructed to return for a breathalyser test before the next session.

This rider was breathalysed a second time and was within the limit to ride. Advice was taken and rider had eaten and drank fluids.

We take this opportunity to explain to riders that if they have alcohol in their system, especially during this hot weather, they should ensure diet and fluids are consumed before riding. This will affect your blood alcohol concentration.

In Scotland we have a Police Inspector and a Trauma Nurse who are called to verify readings if needs be. (We also had the benefit of a practice nurse present on this occasion). The people carrying out the breathalyser were all trained on the use of this machine which is available for all public to buy and use. All readings were recorded and witnessed.

Independent people were used to select the balls used to identify the teams and riders who were breathalysed.

This information has been clarified today by Alcosense.

Anyone who wishes to have further information on the draw, independent people used and recording process of results please contact either Veronica Dodds or Jane McLean.