Chesterfield & Derby Crime Solicitors

A zero-alcohol limit for drivers would have strong public backing, a new survey suggests. Most people believe the current legal threshold should be abolished entirely, banning motorists from consuming even a single drink before driving.

Nearly three in five adults (58 per cent) and more than half of drivers (55 per cent) said it is now "socially unacceptable" to drive after drinking, even when within the existing legal limits. The findings come as police chiefs and the British Medical Association renew calls to tighten alcohol rules—a change that could put drivers over the limit after just one pint.

The poll of 2,000 Britons, including 1,300 drivers, found that almost two thirds (61 per cent) do not trust themselves to drive safely after drinking, even if they remain within the legal limit. The current threshold—80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood—was set in 1967 and is roughly equivalent to two pints of lager.

Campaigners are pushing to lower the limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to 50mg per 100ml of blood, bringing it into line with Scotland and reducing the allowance to around one pint of medium-strength beer. But pub owners warn the move could be devastating for rural hospitality.

Stosie Madi, landlady and chef at the Parkers Arms in remote Newton-in-Bowland, Lancashire, fears the proposal could spell a "death sentence for the country pub". She said: "While aimed at road safety, this change risks delivering a fatal hit to rural pubs."

Research by Direct Line also found that two in five people (41 per cent) support lowering the limit to match Scotland's regulations, while more than eight in ten (84 per cent) agree the safest approach is to avoid alcohol altogether before driving.

Drinking habits among younger generations are already shifting. In a separate Kantar survey, 59 per cent of Generation Z respondents said they had not consumed alcohol at all in the past year.

Thousands of illegal weight-loss injections have been seized during a major raid on a factory in the UK.

Authorities uncovered at least 2,000 unlicensed doses and tens of thousands of injectable pens awaiting filling in what is believed to be the largest global seizure of trafficked weight-loss drugs. Officials estimated the street value of the finished products at over £250,000.