The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield Road, commonly known as the Cat and Fiddle, tops the list as Britain's most dangerous road, having been the scene of 43 fatal or serious collisions since 2001.

Twenty one of these occurred between 2004 and 2006 on the single carriageway road, with the majority involving motorcyclists, the Road Safety Foundation, who compiled the report, found.

If collisions involving motorcyclists are removed from the data, the road moves from the highest risk road in the country to being one of the safest.

Dr Joanne Hill, head of the Road Safety Foundation, said: "The fact that the Macclesfield to Buxton road tops the list of Britain's most dangerous highlights the fundamental issue of road-user behaviour.

"However, poor road design and inadequate safety measures on the majority of the roads in the "most dangerous" list have contributed to a high proportion of the fatal or serious collisions each year.

"The majority of road authorities this year identified the need for significant funding for road safety improvements and maintenance of existing roads."

The A54 Buxton to Congleton road, A53 Buxton to Leek, A515 Buxton to Lichfield and the A623 Chapel-en-le-Frith to Baslow are also among the top 21 most dangerous roads.

The A515 route saw 54 fatal and serious collisions between 2004 and 2006, a seven per cent drop on figures for 2001 to 2003.

Six roads within the county are in the list of Britain's consistently higher road risks based on fatal and serious accident figures and traffic flow up to 2006, but figures from 2007 show there were fewer crashes on all of the roads except the A54, Buxton to Congleton road, most of which is in Cheshire.

Cllr Clive Moesby, Derbyshire cabinet member for community safety, said: "The fact that there were fewer crashes which killed or seriously injured people on these roads is encouraging .

"Last year we spent more than £10 million on road safety measures across the county and we've set aside the same amount this year."

Over the last ten years, the number of crashes in which people were killed or seriously injured on Derbyshire's roads dropped by more than 150.

Last year, a road safety partnership was set up to bring together services including the county council, the police, fire service and Derby City Council to help reduce accidents, deaths and injuries on Derbyshire's roads.