UK drink-driving deaths have risen to 300 a year, a 13-year high, according to the Department for Transport

Gwent Police have recorded more than 2,000 drink-driving offences in the last three years, with 651 clocked in the last year alone, a new investigation has revealed.

Fresh data obtained by Legal Expert has found that between December 2021 and November 2024, the force logged 2,008 drink-driving offences. Of those, just 61 per cent resulted in a charge or summons.

Legal Expert’s Road Traffic Accident Specialist, Tracy Chick says: “Drink-driving is such an avoidable offence and there is no excuse for drinking and getting behind the wheel.”

In the last year alone, 2023/24 the most prolific area for drink-drivers in the Gwent Police force area was Caerphilly where 205 offences were committed.

A further 147 drink-drivers were caught in Newport as well as 97 in Torfaen and 103 in Monmouthshire, according to the force.

The most common age group was drivers aged 26-35, accounting for 33 per cent of the figures, followed by 46-55 year-olds which made up 18 per cent.

What’s more, a staggering 84 per cent of drink-drivers caught by Gwent Police in the last year were male.

The findings follow the latest data released by the Department for Transport in 2024 revealing that UK drink-driving deaths have hit a 13-year-high.

There were an estimated 300 deaths where at least one driver was over the legal blood-alcohol limit in 2022, the latest year for which official figures are available. This is the highest annual figure since 2009.

The number is 16 per cent higher than in 2021 and means drink-drive fatalities accounted for about 18 per cent of all deaths, bucking the general long-term trend for safer roads and more responsible driving.

RTA Specialist Tracy Chick said: “It is deeply concerning that drink-drive-related deaths have reached their highest level since 2009. Anyone who drinks and drives is putting the lives of all road users at risk.

"The impact of drink-driving can be devastating not only for victims who have been killed or suffered life-changing injuries but also for the drivers facing serious legal consequences - it is such an avoidable offence and there is no excuse for drinking and getting behind the wheel.”