Two roads in Essex have been placed in the UK’s 20 most dangerous roads.

Analysis carried out by the AA Charitable Trust has found the A127 in the south of the county is the 14th most dangerous ‘rural’ road, while the A13 is one place below in 15th.

The rankings are based on the collision density between 2018 and 2013 – meaning the number of crashes involving young drivers per kilometre on each road.

In that six year period, there was 451 collisions on the A127 between Rayleigh and Romford.

Of these, 23 per cent (105) involved young drivers. Six of the crashes were considered serious and one was fatal.

Meanwhile on the A13, there were 213 crashes recorded between 2013 and 2018.

61 involved young drivers, with two of those turning out to be fatal and 12 considered serious.

Despite the data, there are no roads in Essex considered high risk to young drivers.

Thurrock Gazette: Some A roads in Essex are considered medium risk to young driversSome A roads in Essex are considered medium risk to young drivers

Both the A127 and A13 are classified as medium risk, as is the A12 between Chelmsford and Colchester.

There were 411 collisions on the A12 between 2013 and 2018, with 115 involving young drivers.

Seven of these were serious.

The two most dangerous rural roads in the UK named by the AA were in Kent.

The AA says its research shows young drivers (aged 17-to-24) are over-represented in rural crashes, with the over-representation highest for those aged 17 (27%) and decreasing with every subsequent year.

Young drivers are also said to face a higher risk of death (2%) or serious injury 15.2%) when involved in a crash on a rural road compared to an urban road (0.6%; 11.3%).

Edmund King, AA Charitable Trust director, said: “This ground-breaking analysis shows, for the first time, the most dangerous rural roads for young drivers as well as an in-depth study of contributory factors involved in those crashes.

“Many young drivers and indeed parents are unaware that rural roads pose a specific and significant risk to young drivers and potentially are much more dangerous than motorways or urban roads.

"71% of fatal car crashes involving young drivers take place on rural roads.

"The research should help target driver education at the times and places young drivers are most at risk.

“Our data clearly shows that the rural road risk is highest for the youngest drivers on our roads and decreases with each year of age.

"This is a clear sign greater education and exposure to rural roads helps alleviate the risks they pose.

“This is just the first stage in what we plan to be an ongoing campaign to really improve the education of young drivers on rural roads.”