GLOUCESTERSHIRE Road Safety Partnership is reminding people of the true consequences of a drink drive conviction as part of its winter anti drink drive campaign.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists calculate that a drink drive conviction could cost between £20,000 – £50,000 as a result of fines, solicitors fees, an increase in car insurance and the loss of a job.

There are strict penalties and daily consequences for being over the limit, including:

• A minimum 12 month driving ban

• A criminal record

• A fine of up to £5,000

• An endorsement on your license for 11 years

• An increase in your car insurance premium

• Trouble getting in to countries like the USA

Suzanne, a married mum of two from Gloucestershire, was banned from driving following a collision on her way home from lunch, said: “I had had two or three glasses of wine with lunch. I felt fine and I thought it would be ok to drive. I was only three miles from home, after all.

“Unfortunately I had a bump, colliding side on with an oncoming car as I went round a bend. Apparently I veered over the centre line of the road.

"Thankfully nobody was hurt – I would never ever have forgiven myself if they had been.”

Ed a 24-year-old from Cheltenham who has been found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol, said: “When I was handed my sentence my whole life as I knew it was turned upside down. From that moment for the rest of my life I had a criminal conviction.”

Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for road safety at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The dangers of drink driving is published widely across the whole of the country, but sadly some people still feel as though they can control a vehicle after they’ve drunk alcohol.

“The amount of accidents that have happened as a result of drink driving in Gloucestershire have drastically reduced, but we still want to promote the dangers because one collision is still one too many.”