AN average of two people died on local roads every week last year, new figures have revealed.

There were 97 deaths from road smashes in West Mercia in 2001 - the same number as in the previous year.

The number of people seriously injured dipped from 909, in 2000, to 771 last year.

The total number of road casualties - deaths and all injuries - was 5,530, compared with 4,563 in 2000.

Across the country, the number of people killed on the roads rose from 3,409 to 3,443, while the number of serious injuries fell from 38,155 to 37,094.

The number of child deaths leapt from 191 to 218 - a rise of 14 per cent - while the total for serious injuries was down from 5,011 to 4,768.

The figures threaten the Government's ambitious target for cutting the number of deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent between 1998 and 2010.

A second Government target aims for a 50 per cent cut in the number of children killed or seriously injured.

Nevertheless, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of road deaths over the past decade, from a high of 4,568 in 1991

"We will be looking to see if there are identifiable reasons for this year's increases," said David Jamieson, the road safety Minister.

"Deaths and injuries on the roads in 2001 are much lower than they were a decade ago, but they are still too high."