ESSEX has the fourth most dangerous roads in the country, according to a new research study.

Research from Moneybarn shows the county saw the fourth highest number of accidents on its roads in 2019.

According to Department for Transport data Essex, which excludes Southend and Thurrock, recorded 2,365 accidents in 2019.

This put the county in fourth place out of areas across England and Wales, behind only Kent, Surrey and Birmingham.

Kent came top of the list, recording 3,619 crashes.

The research also explored the types of roads where accidents take place.

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It revealed there are twice as many accidents in urban compared with rural areas.

However, Moneybarn say accidents on countryside roads are usually more likely to be serious.

Three quarters of accidents were found to take place on "built up" roads, which means roads around settlement areas with street lights and speed limits of 30 mph.

Just 19.1 per cent occurred in non-built areas and as few as 3.5 per cent on motorways.

The majority of accidents, 72.6 per cent, take place on single carriageway roads, with just 15.8 per cent on dual carriageways.

The research also found the majority of accidents actually took place on streets where the speed limit is lower.

A total of 58.1 per cent of crashes took place on roads with speed limits in the 21 mph to 30 mph bracket.

Roads with 70mph limits had the lowest number of accidents.

According the Moneybarn more than half, or 58 per cent, of accidents occurred at junctions.

The T junction, or staggered junction, was found to be the most likely junction for crashes to take place.

Money barn used Department for Transport's road safety data download tool and referred to road accidents reported to the police in 2019 where at least one person was injured.

Crashes where more than one person was injured were not counted more than once.

You can view the full research here.