Drink driving was linked to dozens of crashes resulting in death or injury in Gloucestershire last year, new figures reveal.

Department for Transport data shows drivers or riders impaired by alcohol contributed to 51 crashes in Gloucestershire last year.

The figures, which report contributory factors for incidents as recorded by police, also show 21 people affected by illicit or medicinal drugs.

Officers can record one or more causes for any vehicle incident where someone suffers even a slight injury. These do not have to involve cars and may include a cyclist falling over or a motorbike colliding with a pedestrian.

A driver or rider could be marked as being impaired by alcohol or drugs if police believe their behaviour directly caused or contributed to the accident, whether over the legal limit or not.

A total 579 incidents recorded in Gloucestershire had contributory factors in 2019 – alcohol was linked to 9 per cent of these, while impairment through drugs was reported in 4 per cent.

The most common contributory factor in Gloucestershire was drivers and riders not looking properly, listed in 32 per cent of incidents, followed by being careless, reckless or in a hurry (20 per cent) and failing to judge the other person's path or speed (17 per cent).

Different figures show 20 people were killed and 317 seriously injured on the area's roads last year.

This was compared to 29 deaths and 291 serious injuries in 2018.

Total casualties, which include slight injuries, rose from 998 to 1,128 over the period.