MOTORISTS who drink and drive could have trouble getting car insurance when they get their licence back, warns the AA. Those who do manage to get cover will end up paying hundreds of pounds extra in premiums, with the cost of some policies going up by more than 100 per cent.

An AA spot check of premiums in the South before and after a drink-drive conviction shows that drivers risk huge financial consequences - as well as lives - if they take to the wheel after drinking alcohol.

For example, a 35-year-old man living in Reading, Berks, would pay £331 to insure his 1998 Vauxhall Vectra. After a year's drink-driving ban, his premium would leap by 172 per cent, to nearly £850.

In Gillingham, the same man with the same car would pay £313 and £722 afterwards - an increase of 130 per cent.

Reactions to drink-driving offences vary considerably among insurance companies, with more than half of the 20 underwriters on the AA's panel of insurers refusing to quote for cover until five years after the conviction.