A road in Kent is the most dangerous in the country according to a new study.

The A254 between Margate and Ramsgate has been dubbed Britain's highest risk route in research by the Road Safety Foundation.

The group said there have been more than 30,000 fatal or serious accidents on Britain's roads since 2012 - and singled out the stretch of the A254 between the junction of the A28 at Margate and the junction with the A255 near Ramsgate as the nation's worst.

The conclusion comes from a new interactive Dangerous Roads map it has produced.

Other dangerous routes singled out include the Headcorn Road between Maidstone and Biddenden and the Canterbury Road between Charing and Chilham.

The Road Safety Foundation and motor insurer Ageas are calling for an immediate investment of £75 million from the government, and another £75 million annually for five years thereafter to improve the riskiest roads.

They estimate the initial spending would help prevent an around 1,100 fatal and serious injuries over the next two decades.

If the government spent £450m, the believe it could prevent as many as 5,600 deaths or serious injuries over the same time.

The value of prevention would be around £2 billion, they say.

Andy Watson, chief executive of Ageas Insurance, said: “It’s unacceptable that road crashes continue to cost lives. It’s also shocking that they cost society £35bn each year – that’s nearly 2% of GDP and more than we spend on primary education and GP services combined.

" We deal with the devastating aftermaths of serious road crashes every day. That’s why we’re calling for this investment.

"Infrastructure safety means much more than just filling in potholes. A reduction in crashes won’t just save lives – it’ll significantly benefit the economy. Fewer crashes mean fewer insurance claims."

The two groups says that progress on reducing road deaths has stagnated since 2011, with 1,793 people killed on Britain’s roads in 2017, the highest number since 2011.

If Great Britain had been on track to halve road deaths within this decade, in line with international targets, an extra 2,549 peoples' lives would have been spared between 2010 and 2017, they say.

The Safer Roads Fund was part of an investment package announced in 2016 by the Department of Transport to upgrade 50 of England’s most dangerous local A-road sections.

This £100 million is projected to prevent 1,450 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years, with a value of prevention of £550 million.

Every £1 spent is projected to have societal benefit of £4.40 by eradicating large amounts of post-crash costs.

Suzy Charman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, said: “The reality is that progress to reduce the rate of death and serious injury on our roads has flatlined since 2010.

"The Safer Roads Fund has allowed the road safety community to demonstrate that investing in road safety engineering treatments really does have life-saving potential, and also stacks up as an investment when compared to other transport initiatives.”

“If we’re to get back on track and achieve the shared international goal of zero road deaths by 2050, we need to tackle road casualty reduction with purpose and determination. Continuation of the Safer Roads Fund would be one critical way of achieving that goal.”

See the online 2018 Road Crash Map at dangerousroads.ageas.co.uk