SHOCK figures have shown East Lancashire's road have some of the worst records for death or serious injury in the country.

A new report has shown people in Blackburn are 39 per cent more likely to be killed or hurt in crashes than the national average.

The town also has the third highest rate for pedestrian casualties across the country - 109 per cent above average.

Overall less people are being involved in accidents, but the area is still lagging behind other parts of the UK where safety is improving faster.

Blackburn with Darwen Council roads boss Maureen Bateson said the town's narrow and overcrowded terraced streets made it more prone to accidents, while election hopeful Bob Eastwood called for greater research into the reasons for accidents.

It is thought that poor driving habits, such as speeding, drink and drug driving and not wearing seat belts, could all have a contributory effect to the number and seriousness of accidents.

The report by Direct Line Car Insurance and PACTS, an all-party parliamentary group, calculated the road casualty rates for residents of each parliamentary constituency relative to the local population.

In Hyndburn, there were 33 per cent more casualties than the national average, in Chorley, a quarter more and in Rossendale and Darwen, a fifth more.

The rate was 18 per cent higher in the Ribble Valley, 16 per cent more in Burnley and in Pendle there were 14 per cent more road casualties that the average.

The report comes 18 months after The Lancashire Telegraph launched the Slower Speeds, Safer Children campaign calling for 20mph zones to be introduced near all homes, shops, and schools.

According to the report the main contributory factors affecting deaths and serious injuries relate to levels of speeding, drink and drug driving, car telephone use by drivers, the non- use of seat belts and crash helmets; the safety quality of the road network and the vehicles travelling within it and the performance of the emergency medical system and trauma care."

Labour's Cllr Bateson, executive member for regeneration, said: "Where there are road safety issues we take action to do what we can.

"We have worked with schools and where there are accidents we try to mitigate where they happen.

"We do have an area with lots of terraced streets where cars park on both sides and often this is a danger.

"When you compare the geography of an area we have a higher proportion of traditional terraced streets than most.

"A lot of these streets were designed when not many people had cars.

"I also think we should bring back the national campaigns, such as the Green Cross Code, to make drivers and pedestrians more aware of the dangers of crossing.

"Where we have issues we look at them. We appointed a road safety champion to look at issues around schools and we now have more than 400 streets that have a 20mph limit."

Bob Eastwood, Blackburn’s General Election Conservative candidate, said: “We need to know what it is that gives rise to casualties on the roads and that information should be used to focus attentions.”

Lindsay Hoyle, Chorley’s Labour parliamentary candidate, added: “These figures are very concerning and I think quite rightly it is an issue that we need to look at.”

Pendle’s Conservative general election candidate Andrew Stephenson said: “This is concerning. Over the last few years we have seen a decent amount of progress in reducing road casualties and deaths on our roads.

“That has been helped by the roll out of 20mph zones.

“I am keen to see more done on this area and hopefully see Pendle have a lower road casualty rate than the national average.”

In the report, researchers calculated a national average and then used populations of each constituency and the number of accidents to calculate a comparative figure.

In the UK in 2013, the most recent year for which full data is available, 183,670 people were reported injured, including 23,370 killed or seriously injured, at a cost to society of over £15bn, according to official government figures.

PACTS has calculated that on current trends, 350,000 people will be killed or seriously injured in Great Britain between 2010 and 2030 at a cost to society of £110bn.

Paul Binks, road and transport safety manager for Lancashire County Council, said despite being above the national average, the figures showed that East Lancashire’s roads were becoming safer with a downward trend in casualties over the last five years.

He added: “We want to see this continue into the future and are targeting road safety measures where risk analysis shows we can make the most difference.

“This includes speed awareness courses for drivers caught speeding, cycling and pedestrian safety education for children, awareness campaigns for younger drivers, and courses to help older people drive safely for longer.

“We will also invest £1m in safety improvements to our roads in the next year, of which £500k will go towards improving junctions where we have recently seen a rise in injuries to cyclists.”