As the festive period approaches there is sure to be a strong focus on the campaign to cut out the drink driving incidents that always increase over the holiday periods.

New research has revealed which towns and cities in the UK have earnt themselves the reputation as drink and drug driving hotspots, with the west of the country particularly hard hit.

MoneySupermarket.com reviewed six million car insurance quotes on its website and discovered that for every 1,000 drivers, 1.05 admit on their insurance application that they have previously been caught over limit. That figure has dropped considerably in the past 12 months, from 2017s high of 1.47, a decrease of 29 per cent.

Crewe has traditionally been the No.1 place to find drink drivers in the UK, though this year it has lost its unwanted crown to Hereford, which has a rate of 2.30 motorists per thousands admitting to the offence. Crewe still ranks highly with second place (1.86), with Blackpool third in the list and Sunderland and Newport completing the top five of the worst places in the UK for drink and drug driving.

With public transport working 24/7 in the UK’s capital, it’s perhaps unsurprising that London boroughs rate the lowest in terms of convictions, with drivers in North West London performing best with just 0.45 convictions per thousand.

Emma Garland, data scientist at Moneysupermarket, said: “With Christmas parties and festivities coming up, there is more chance of people getting behind the wheel under the influence as they may not realise how much alcohol they’ve had.

“Driving the next morning while unknowingly still over the limit is also a key factor, especially for those who may have particularly early starting times, such as labourers and plumbers.

“However, it’s reassuring to see that convictions have decreased since last year and hopefully they will continue to do so year on year.”

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