DRUNKEN DRIVERS MAY HAVE CARS CONFISCATED

DRINK-DRIVERS face having their vehicles confiscated and sold off as part
of the annual Christmas anti-drink-drive campaign.

Senior police officers are planning to target men aged 17-24 and
hard-hitting adverts giving warning of the dangers of drinking and driving
are being placed for the first time in young men's magazines such as Loaded
and FHM.

The campaign, which will be started today in Central London by John Reid,
the Transport Minister, will involve television and newspaper advertising
aimed at the same age group.

Police in Essex said yesterday that they would seize the cars of
drink-drivers and after conviction urge magistrates to allow them to
confiscate and sell the vehicles.

Chief Inspector Tony Rayner, the operations manager with the traffic
division in Essex Police, said: "A drink-driver is breaking the law and
anyone who uses a vehicle in the commission of a crime faces having that
vehicle taken away from them."

Mr Rayner called on magistrates to back police requests for the
confiscation and sale of vehicles irrespective of whether the car was an
old banger worth UKP500 or a UKP15,000 BMW.

He said that too often magistrates looked at the value of the car and
tended not to issue confiscation orders in cases involving more expensive
vehicles. "It is a problem which we hope magistrates will look at," he
added.

Under confiscation powers, cash raised from the sale of confiscated
vehicles can be used to help pedestrians or to promote road safety
initiatives.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson