BURY has seen a reduction in the number of people injured on its roads, and was one of only seven local authorities in the country last year to suffer no crash fatalities.

Government figures for 2014 showed that there were no deaths, 31 serious injuries and 301 slight injuries.

The statistics are already below the target set for 2020 - of 38 fatal and serious injuries - set at national level for the borough and well below the average of 64 in the years 2005 to 2009.

Also, from July 2014 to June 2015, Bury is the only district in Greater Manchester to reach its 2020 target.

Jan Brabin, senior road safety officer for Bury Council, welcomed the reduction in casualties, but warned: “Despite this good news, even one serious injury or fatality is one too many.

"We have been above the projected casualty reduction target for the previous five years, but we cannot become complacent. We have to keep pushing towards reducing occurrences of death and injury on our roads.”

The council’s road safety team will continue to deliver extensive road safety programmes in local primary and secondary schools, and wider training and publicity to road users in Bury.

Bury Council officers already implement engineering measures, traffic calming and traffic management schemes to make roads safer.

Bosses say a key part is the successful StreetSafe initiative which, among other things, has introduced a number of 20mph zones in residential areas to reduce the likelihood and severity of incidents.

For more information about road safety in Bury: go to http://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11272