Motor insurance news - Traveller used horse and carriage to get around town
A 21-year-old traveller appeared in court after being charged riding a horse and carriage whilst drunk.
William Royles, of Sandhurst Lane, Gloucester, could find it difficult to get cheap online car insurance quote in the future if he gave up using his current method of transport.
Motor insurance companies may be concerned that Mr Royles could commit further driving offences if found guilty of driving the carriage whilst drunk.
Mr Royles often used his two-year-old horse to get around town and was found by police to be driving the carriage without lights on 4th September last year.
Officers also believed he was over the alcohol limit and so he was charged under the 1872 Licensing Act of being drunk and in charge of a horse and carriage on the highway.
Mathew Harbinson, defending, said that Mr Royles hadn't been breathalysed at the scene of the incident because such tests were not mentioned in the Act.
The young traveller has been ordered to appear in court on 26th September for a pre-trial review and again for his trial on 27th October.
He said, "The police let me ride off with the horse after stopping me. You would have thought if they were worried they would have called the RSPCA or something."
If Mr Royles was found guilty of the driving offence and changed his method of transport, he could find it difficult getting a cheap online car insurance quote, meaning he may have to shop around for the best vehicle insurance available in the future.