UK’s drink and drug-driving hot spots revealed by new insurance data

The UK areas with the most drink and drug-driving offenders have been named as figures reveal a post-lockdown rise in offences.

Analysis of almost four million insurance quotes on online platform MoneySuperMarket showed that the number of drivers admitting to having a drink-driving or drug-driving conviction rose from 0.95 per 1,000 in 2019/2020 to 1.05 per 1,000 in 2020/2021.

It also showed that for the second year in a row Llandudno in Wales had the highest proportion of offenders.

For every 1,000 drivers in the coastal town’s postcode area, 1.89 reported a conviction for drink or drug driving in 2020/21 - up from 1.58 in 2019/2020.

That placed it at the top of the country’s list of shame, ahead of Liverpool (1.76 per 1,000), Telford (1.76), Darlington (1.73) and Newport (1.60), which all also saw marked increases in the proportion of offenders.

North West London (NW postcode), in contrast, had the lowest proportion of offences, with just 0.54 drivers per 1,000 declaring a drink or drug driving conviction, a small decrease on the 2019/20 figure of 0.58.

The TD postcode, which covers the town of Galashiels and surrounding parts of southern Scotland, had the second lowest rate of offences at 0.62 per 1,000, tied with St Albans in south-east England. Kirkcaldy (0.64) and Harrow (0.67) rounded out the five postcodes with the lowest offending rates, all seeing a reduction from 2019/20’s figures.