A four-mile stretch of the A36 in Totton has been deemed the second most dangerous in the UK by the Road Safety Foundation

The four-mile stretch of the A36 in Totton has been deemed notoriously troublesome for motorists by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).

While Hampshire was named at the top of the list when it came to how much road crashes cost - with the county suffering more than half a billion pounds of economic losses.

It comes after the number of fatal and serious crashes on the A36, from the A3090 Ower round about to Totton, increased by more than 30 per cent.

The report by the foundation revealed there were 12 such incidents between 2008-10, compared to 16 between 2011-13.

Further investigations by the RSF found that 44 per cent of these crashes saw road junctions as a contributing factor, with 38 per cent involving pedestrians and cyclists.

The only other road in the country proving more persistently dangerous was the 10-mile stretch of the A18 between Laceby and Ludborough in Lincolnshire, which saw fatal and serious crashes shoot up by 70 per cent over the same period.

The list was published by the RSF in a report entitled How Much Do Road Crashes Cost Where You Live?

The report, sponsored by Ageas UK, also highlighted a huge disparity in the cost of crashes in non-metropolitan areas to local authorities.

Four areas suffered over half a billion pounds of economic losses in a three-year period, led by Hampshire at £631m, which equates to £474 per head of population.

The report also found that crashes on England's major highways cost £2.1 billion in the period from 2011-13, according to the foundation.

This was calculated based on a number of factors, such as the response from the emergency services, insurance claims and loss of output due to injury.

The RSF concluded that reducing crashes on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) was "a moral and an economic imperative'' for Highways England (HE).

Caroline Moore, author of the report, called for a greater focus on improving safety on single-carriageway routes, such as the A36, on the SRN.

She said: "The cost of fatal and serious injury crashes on single A roads on the HE network is £19 per 1,000 vehicle kilometre travelled, against just £3 per 1,000 vehicle kilometre travelled on its motorways.

"This gives a clear understanding of where Highways England can focus its efforts to make its whole network safer overall, and address its £2.1 billion crash costs.''

The most improved road was named as the A70 between Cumnock and Ayr, south-west Scotland.

It saw a 94 per cent reduction in the number of fatal and serious crashes from 16 in 2008-10 to just one in 2011-13.

The RSF said safety improvements included mobile speed cameras, variable message signs to prepare motorists for junctions, cycleway extensions and road resurfacing.