A coastal road has been named one of the most dangerous in the country.

The A259 between Eastbourne and Hastings has the highest proportion of accidents in the South-East, according to a list compiled for the ITV programme Police, Camera, Action!

The table, put together by the Road Safety Foundation, listed the 19-mile single carriageway stretch of the A259 as a medium-high risk.

It had 47 fatal and serious collisions in 2004-6, a risk rate of 120.02 per billion vehicle kilometres travelled.

Nigel Waterson, MP for Eastbourne, said: "It's a highly dangerous and congested road and it is certainly one of the worst in the country which is precisely why we have fought so hard to stop maternity services being switched from Eastbourne to Hastings.

"The length of time that it would take an ambulance with a pregnant woman on board along the road.

"It is clearly outdated for modern motoring conditions and the volume of traffic that is using it means that many people take risks. I have had people overtaking me there in the wrong places and at the wrong time. One has to be very vigilant."

The most dangerous road in the country was found to be a single-lane stretch of the A537 in the Peak District which had a risk rate of 250.

The most improved road was the A453 in Staffordshire which has seen an 88% drop in the number of fatal or serious collisions in the last six years, following the introduction of traffic lights, reduced speed limits and improved footpaths.

A survey of drivers showed that 40% thought motorways and dual carriageways were the most dangerous roads in Britain when in fact rural roads have three times more fatal crashes than any other type of carriageway.

Earlier this year, the same Eastbourne to Hastings stretch of the A259 was named the ninth hardest road in the country to navigate.

According to the poll by Airwaves chewing gum, drivers blamed the amount of traffic on it every day and heavy congestion.

Of those questioned, 68% said the road, which is the main route to holiday destinations on the coast, was also badly maintained and 66% said the behaviour of other drivers made it a risky route.

Over the past year there have been several accidents on the stretch of road.

In December, 23-year-old motorcyclist Glyn Iorweth Jenkins, 23, of Eastbourne Road, Pevensey, was killed when his bike crashed into traffic lights near Eastbourne Marina.

In February a man in his 20s was killed in a three-car crash on the A259 at Hooe, between Bexhill and Pevensey. Another man, also in his 20s, suffered serious injuries.

Just over two months later motorcyclist John May, 37, from Maidstone, Kent, died when he hit a lamp post on Barnhorn Road.

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