A 'MORNING after' the night before drink drive campaign is launching in Gloucestershire this weekend.

Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership is urging drivers and riders to stop and think about the amount of alcohol still in their body the morning after the night before.

The campaign, which launches on Sunday, targets drinkers who do not realise the time it takes for the alcohol to leave their body and who might get up to drive to work or go the shops the following morning.

Councillor Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for road safety, said: “Many of us enjoy a relaxing summer drink or a big night out every so often. The majority of people do the right thing by leaving the car at home, but what they don’t realise is the amount of alcohol that remains in the body through to the following day – and especially during the morning rush hour.”

According to the Department of Transport, one unit of alcohol takes the body an hour to break down.

This would mean a person drinking three large glasses of wine in an evening who stops drinking at midnight should not drive for 13 hours, or until 1pm the following day.

To support the campaign, posters will be displayed in pubs and clubs, messages posted on fuel pump nozzles and adverts will appear on the radio.

Garry Handley, Road Safety Manager for the Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Although the number of people drinking and driving has reduced significantly in recent years, it still remains a serious road safety problem.

"Around 1,000 local drivers are arrested and convicted every year, and they have to live with the personal and social consequences of their actions.

"Tragically of course, for some, lives are lost and people harmed.”