THE number of fatal accidents on Lancashire's roads fell by almost a third last year, according to statistics from the Department of Transport.

The figures show that 63 people were killed in 2006, compared to 94 in 2005.

However, this figure has fluctuated for the past five years, with 75 deaths in 2001, 66 in 2002, 88 in 2003 and 57 in 2004.

The number of people seriously injured on the county's roads rose from 960 in 2005 to 1,076 in 2006.

Nationally road deaths have fallen by one percent and serious injuries by five per cent.

The number of child deaths rose by 20 per cent, from 141 in 2005 to 169 last year.

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation and campaigner for the Make Roads Safe initiative, said: "Children are much more likely to die in a road accident than from drugs or violent crime.

"It's shocking that, in line with global trends, road accidents are the number one killer in the 10-24 age group in the UK."

He went on: "It's essential that we start educating our children about road safety at an early age. Today's schoolchildren are the young drivers of tomorrow."

Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, added: "We already know that the years at secondary school are the most risky for our young people: their travel to, from and around school also appears to be placing them at risk.

"There is much more that we need to do to protect this group through risk education, better cycling and walking facilities and 20mph zones where they live and play."