DOZENS of people were killed or seriously injured on Herefordshire's roads last year, new figures show.

Road safety charity Brake has called on the Government to strengthen roads policing, following what it described as a decade of "appalling stagnation" in the number of fatalities on Britain's roads.

In 2019, 97 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in Herefordshire, Department for Transport figures show. In 2018, there were 94.

Of last year's total, nine were fatalities, down from 12 the year before.

The figures represent all accidents that happened on a public road and involved at least one vehicle, horse rider or cyclist.

Across Britain, 29,588 people were killed or seriously injured last year, a slight decrease on the year before.

The number of fatalities also dropped slightly to 1,748, but Brake said the annual total has “flatlined since 2012” when 1,754 people were killed.

The DfT warns against comparing year-on-year figures however due to changes in 2016 to the way some forces record the severity of injuries.

In Herefordshire, the total number of casualties, which includes non-serious injuries, fell from 812 to 498 between 2009 and 2019.

Across Britain, the number of casualties fell to 153,315 last year, the lowest since comparable records began in 1979 – mainly driven by a fall in non-serious injuries.

A DfT spokesman said the figures were encouraging, adding: “We continue to work hard to improve road safety – delivering on more than 70 actions announced last year in the Road Safety Statement to tackle road safety issues for people, throughout their lifetime.

“Our award-winning THINK! Campaign is also continuing to tackle the attitudes and behaviours that can lead to road casualties.”