An average of 55 people are killed or seriously injured on roads in the East of England every week, figures have revealed.

Eastern Daily Press: The scene of the fatal crash in Bradwell.Picture: David HannantThe scene of the fatal crash in Bradwell.Picture: David Hannant (Image: Archant)

Road safety charity Brake found 33pc of people in the region had been involved in a collision or had a near miss with a vehicle on a UK road in the past year.

The findings from Brake were published to coincide with the launch of its annual Road Safety Week campaign, for which there are events planned around the country.

Separate Department for Transport figures from 2019 show that 458 people have been injured or killed on Norfolk's roads during the last year, including 20 children.

In total 89 of the casualties in the county were pedestrians, 55 were cyclists, 101 were motorcyclists and 216 were in cars. A further eight were in heavy or light goods vehicles.

Eastern Daily Press: Flowers at the scene of the fatal crash near Sculthorpe. Picture: ARCHANT.Flowers at the scene of the fatal crash near Sculthorpe. Picture: ARCHANT. (Image: Archant)

This year the theme for Road Safety Week is Stepping Up for Safer Streets. Road safety campaigners believe that crashes and near misses have a big impact on people's perceptions of safety, making streets feel less welcoming and discouraging people from choosing to walk and cycle, modes of transport which reduce the danger for others.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said: "These findings paint an alarming picture of the danger on the East of England's roads and yet it's what we're all exposed to, every day, when getting about.

"We shouldn't have to accept this level of risk as part of our daily lives and so we are calling on everyone to 'Step Up' for Road Safety Week and shout out for the solutions that we know can make our roads safe."

Schoolchildren, community groups and employees across the east will be taking part in the campaign by learning about solutions which can decrease death and serious injury on the roads, such as 20mph limits in urban areas and technology which can prevent vehicles from speeding.

Brake is running a survey on its website for people to share information about the streets where they live, and will share the findings with local authorities.

Road Safety Week 2019 partners Kwik-Fit and Specsavers are also backing the campaign, with Kwik-Fit offering free vehicle safety checks at more than 600 centres across the country and Specsavers touring a virtual reality driving experience so people can check their eyesight is good enough for driving.