But Shropshire highway chiefs say that casualty figures are continuing a downward trend and the county council remains well on course to meet key accident reduction targets.

Today’s statistics, published by the Department of Transport, emerge amid controversy about their accuracy.

The Statistics Commission is concerned that police figures, on which the government statistics are based, tend to be lower than hospital data.

The Department of Transport said this was down to “under-reporting” of accidents to police, and that it would look into the issue.

A spokesman added: “We have always used police figures, and they do provide a straight year-on-year comparison.”

A recent report to Shropshire County Council watchdogs said that 228 people were killed or seriously injured on Shropshire roads.

This was a 43 per cent reduction on the baseline set several years ago and means the authority is well on track to achieve its target of a 50 per cent reduction by 2010.

Overall Shropshire is rated the 12th best performing local transport authority out of the 116 in England.

But county councillors have been warned that there is “no acceptable level” for casualties, and accident reduction must remain a key objective

Today’s figures reveal 3,201 people were killed on Britain’s roads in 2005 – a one per cent drop.

The number of people who suffered serious injuries in road accidents fell seven per cent to 28,954.

Total casualties in 2005 were 271,017 – three per cent lower than in 2004.

There were 560 deaths involving drink-driving, three per cent down on the previous year, with the total number of casualties involved dropping by an estimated nine per cent.

“Failed to look” was the most frequently reported contributory factor, involving 32 per cent of accidents.

The RAC Foundation called for improvements to driving standards, education and on the design of roads.

By Sunita Patel and Dave Morris

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