A RURAL road has been rated among the world's top 10 most dangerous along with highways in Baghdad, Brazil and Bolivia.

Figures produced by the AA show that the A682, between junction 13 of the M65 at Barrowford and Long Preston in North Yorkshire, has amongst the worst fatality records per mile in the world Auto Express magazine published the findings this week, along with a commentary from a travel journalist who had travelled along each route.

Today a spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Fatal and serious accidents on the A682 have fallen on the Lancashire stretch from 23 in 1999/2000 to 17 in 2001/03.

"There has been engineering and speed enforcement work on the road too."

The road has previously been named Britain's most dangerous stretch of road after an AA study revealed 22 serious accidents in the past three years. And it is rated third worst in the country for motorcycle collisions.

A two-mile stretch around Sandyford Clough has seen two people killed and 18 injured, since 2000.

With an average of 0.5 deaths per 10 miles every year, or one every 10 miles every other year, the road is ranked number nine in the global poll.

That number is significantly lower than on other roads on the list, including the Arc De Triomphe in Paris with 27 deaths every year for every 10 miles.

Route Irish into Baghdad recorded 70 deaths every year, while top of the poll was a road in Bolivia with 75.

In his report on the road, journalist Craig Tansley said the A682 had many twists and turns and described it as a road with little room for error compounded by drivers who were eager to overtake because they did not want to be held up by traffic.' Last year, the county council announced another project on the road to improve road safety, details of which have not been finalised.

In the past, Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has insisted drivers need to play their part. He said: "Statistics are shocking but not surprising.

"I have been overtaken by motorcyclists on this road who were going at the speed of light."