ROAD safety campaigners are calling for greater resources to help tackle the issue, with Cheshire's roads seeing the largest increase in deaths in the north west.

Last year saw 46 people die in crashes in Cheshire, compared to 22 in 2017. There have already been more than 20 this year.

RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, are warning that more needs to be done with deaths nationwide up four per cent since 2013.

Pauline Fielding, RoadPeace north west group coordinator, whose son Andrew was killed in a Cheshire crash, said: "I am saddened but not surprised that the number of road deaths more than doubled in 2018 in Cheshire, where my son died 25 years ago.

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"I am also disappointed that in Merseyside and other parts of the country the death and serious injury statistics remain unacceptably high.

"Each death or serious injury has devastating effects on so many people and changes lives forever.

"The only acceptable target is that of no avoidable fatalities or serious injuries on the road, Vision Zero. This target was adopted by Merseyside's PCC in 2017 and more recently by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

"To achieve this commendable target, councils, PCCs, police, fire and rescue services, campaigners and other partners need to work together and they need to be given the necessary resources to achieve this."

Cheshire Police has clamped down on 'fatal five' offences in a bid to tackle the tragic statistic, with careless driving, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and speeding the key contributors.

Chief Constable Darren Martland said earlier this year: “From a policing perspective, this is Cheshire’s biggest killer.

"People are dying on our roads as a result of motorists’ poor driving, reckless decisions and momentary lapses in concentration.

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"Fatal collisions are heart-breaking – for the family, for the community, and for the responding emergency services staff who have to witness the tragedy and subsequent aftermath.

"Stopping any more deaths from occurring as a result of something unnecessary and totally avoidable is a top priority for us.

“While it is absolutely necessary that officers are out enforcing the laws of the road, it’s also about educating road users on how to drive safely, and we will be working closely with our Cheshire Road Safety Group colleagues to help prevent further tragedies from occurring.”

The Department for Transport says there were 1,782 road deaths on Britain’s roads in 2018 – 11 fewer than in 2017, but 69 higher than in 2013.

RoadPeace is urging the government to take a bolder approach to reducing casualties.