Kent County Council has launched its summer drink driving campaign to help people realise the danger of getting behind the wheel with alcohol in their system.

It comes as a new study has shown one in six of all road deaths involve alcohol.

Research shows that over the last three years there have been 654 crashes and 951 casualties as a result of a driver being impaired by alcohol on the county's roads.

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The campaign, which is run by Kent Road Safety, will last throughout June and asks drivers if it is worth taking the risk.

Of the 951 casualties, 161 people were seriously injured while 18 people died as a result of drink-driving.

Kent County Council road safety team leader, Vicky Harvey, said: "You don't have to be drunk to be dangerous on the roads.

"Just one drink can increase the chances of having a crash, sometimes with tragic consequences for you, the victims involved and their families.

"Small amounts of alcohol will affect your ability to drive safely and it will affect your reaction times and ability to drive.

"The message is simple - if you’re driving, is having a drink worth it?"

Maidstone topped the chart for having the highest number of drink-driving casualties with 109, followed by Thanet with 105 and Canterbury with 100.

Statistics show most of these crashes happened in August between 10pm to 11pm.

Half of all of alcohol-related collisions take place at the weekend and a quarter of all collisions on a Saturday.

Three quarters of drink-drivers were male, with the majority of those caught aged between 25 and 40.

"Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs significantly increases the chances of harming yourself and others" - Chief inspector Peter Steenhuis

Driving bans have been increased in the hope that it will make potential drink drivers and speeders think more carefully about what they might be about to do.

The authorities can now order people to pay a fine which increases according to how much they earn in a week.

Police will be carrying out road checks at all times of the day across Kent and targeting high risk areas throughout the campaign.

Chief inspector Peter Steenhuis from Kent Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: "Drivers should never get behind the wheel if they have had alcohol or are under the influence of controlled drugs as they significantly increase the chances of harming themselves and others.

"As police officers we have to go to collisions where people have been killed or seriously injured, and all too often it becomes apparent that alcohol or drugs is a major factor in the incident.

"Our message is simple, if you are going to have an alcoholic drink on a night out then plan another way of getting home and play your part in making the roads in Kent safer."