Almost £2m is to be spent making safety improvements to a number of roads in South Lanarkshire.

The majority of the improvements will be undertaken in the rural area as statistics show around 50% of serious or fatal road casualties and more than 60% of road deaths occur on rural roads.

Safety measures will include improving signs and lining (including vehicle activated signs), putting chevrons on sharp bends and using anti-skid surfaces at appropriate locations.

The £1.8m scheme will target six stretches of road with the ones with the most accident problems being dealt with first.

Councillor John Murray, the chair of the council's Road Safety Forum, said: "I am delighted that we are improving the safety of so many roads throughout the council area.

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"We use quite a complex set of calculations to determine which roads need attention the most. Using these calculations we can then identify and make improvements to the roads where the most accidents occur.

"Although most of the improvements are to rural roads, there are also sections of the urban road network which will benefit from the Route Action Plan."

The accident rate is calculated using the number of accidents over the length of the route related to the total number of vehicles using the route. This figure determines whether a road is suitable to be included in the council's Route Action Plan.

The roads involved in the Clydesdale area are:

• Mauldslie Road from the A71 to Clyde St (£570,000)
• A70 from Douglas to the M74 (£130,000)
• A70 from the A73 to A743 (£120,000)
• A706 from Forth to the Council Boundary (£35,000)
• A72 from Hazelbank to the B7018 (£345,000)

The projects will be financed through the council capital applications for Route Action Plans (£1.4m), Road Safety/Accident Investigation/Prevention (£100,000) and from Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (£300,000).

(GK/JM)