BOURNEMOUTH has been named second in a top ten list of UK 'cities' with the most dangerous roads.

The unenviable list, compiled by comparison website Know Your Money, has used official Department for Transport accident figures divided by the size of local authority areas to find the number of casualties per square mile.

Unsurprisingly London tops the list with 30,051 casualties in 2019, working out at 50 per square mile.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, with 804 casualties, comes second with 45 casualties per square mile.

Meanwhile, Nottingham, Luton and Portsmouth are third in the list with 36 casualties per square mile.

John Ellmore, co-founder of Know your Money, said: "Whilst road casualties and accidents have been on the decline over the last few decades thanks to road improvements and additional regulations, it is still crucial for drivers to be taking extra care on the roads, particularly those that have not been driving for as long.

“With winter weather conditions having a great impact on the roads, it’s really important for drivers in the UK and the rest of the world to be extra vigilant when travelling to their destination to protect themselves and others.”

Government statistics show there were 1,752 reported road deaths in 2019 nationwide, similar to the level seen since 2012.

Department for Transport figures also show that the number of fatalities aged 60 and over in reported road crashes has increased by nine per cent from 588 in 2018 to 638 in 2019, and has been on an upward trajectory since 2015.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake said: “The decade-long stagnation in reducing road deaths on the roads is unacceptable. On average, five people are killed on our roads every day, every one a tragedy, and every one could have been prevented if the government had the courage to make the big decisions to bring about change on our roads.

“We need 20mph default speed limits on towns and cities, zero tolerance limits for drink-driving and, most of all, a coherent and holistic approach to managing safety on our roads, with targets to eliminate death and serious injury for good.

"The steady increase in deaths of older road users is hugely concerning and cannot simply be explained away by our ageing population. The frailty of older people make them highly vulnerable to death and serious injury in a crash, but this is not a new discovery, these vulnerabilities are obvious and known and yet we still await proper plans to protect the elderly from harm."