More than 100 people were killed or seriously injured on Powys's roads last year, new figures show.

Road safety charity Brake has called on the UK Government to strengthen roads policing in England and Wales, following what it described as a decade of "appalling stagnation" in the number of fatalities on Britain's roads.

In 2019, 158 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in Powys, Department for Transport figures show.

This was a rise of 14 per cent on the year before, when there were 138.

Of last year's total, 14 were fatalities – up from nine the year before.

The figures represent all accidents that happened on a public road and involved at least one vehicle, horse rider or cyclist.

Across Britain, 29,588 people were killed or seriously injured last year – a slight decrease on the year before.

The number of fatalities also dropped slightly to 1,748, but Brake said the annual total has “flatlined since 2012” when 1,754 people were killed.

The DfT warns against comparing year-on-year figures however due to changes in 2016 to the way some forces record the severity of injuries.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, said the UK Government should commit to a 'Vision Zero' target of no deaths or serious injuries on the roads.

He said: “For nearly a decade now, we have seen an appalling stagnation in the number of deaths on our roads and it’s high-time for the Government to take responsibility and act.

"We need to rid our roads of dangerous drink and drug driving, introduce safe speeds in our towns, cities and rural areas and reinvigorate roads policing, which has been decimated by funding cuts."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it has expressed concern about the lack of progress in reducing deaths and serious injuries on the roads for a number of years.

Nick Lloyd, head of road safety at the organisation, added: “However, we are pleased that the Government is now recognising the importance of roads policing and has issued a consultation on this."

The Government is carrying out a review of roads policing across England and Wales, stating there can be "no room for complacency" after a plateauing in the number of deaths and serious injuries following years of steady decline.

In Powys, the total number of casualties, which includes non-serious injuries, fell from 667 to 467 between 2009 and 2019.

Across Wales, there were 5,802 casualties last year – almost half the number a decade ago.

The number of deaths meanwhile fell from 103 to 97 between 2018 and 2019.

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “One life lost is one too many.

"We are working to introduce a new law that will see the speed limit on restricted roads in Wales change from 30mph to 20mph as the rule, not the exception.”