THERE has been a decrease in the number of road casualties in the Wee County, according to provisional statistics.

An average of 33 casualties have been reported following road collisions across Clackmannanshire in the five years to 2022, according to figures released by Transport Scotland last week.

The figure, based on records from Police Scotland, is down from an average of 40 between 2017 and 2021.

The downward trend is mirrored across the Forth Valley division with the numbers going from 366 in 2017-2021 to 319 in the provisional figures in 2018-2022.

Compared to the rest of the country, the figures for Clackmannanshire are the fourth lowest in Scotland and the lowest on the mainland.

However, across the whole of Scotland the figures rose by nine percent from 5,111 to 5,587 – the third lowest number since annual records began in 1950.

Altogether, 174 people were killed in reported road collisions in Scotland in 2022, 33 more than the year before and the highest number since 2016.

The number of people seriously injured was 1,759 which is 145 higher than in 2021.

Although the figures for serious, slight and all casualties in 2022 are higher than the previous two years where casualty numbers will have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on travel, they are still lower than those in 2019.

Kevin Stewart, minister for transport, said: "Any increase in road deaths and injuries is deeply concerning.

"Behind every number we see in the statistics today is a loved one who is now tragically no longer with us or a life changed forever.

"To see lives cut short in this way is deeply unfair and I refuse to accept that road casualties are in some way inevitable – they are avoidable and can be stopped.

"One death on our roads is simply one too many.

"Separate to the enforcement work undertaken by Police Scotland and the local action and investment taken by our local authorities, the Scottish Government's 2023-24 budget includes over £3 million for road safety.

"This has been allocated to areas such as our Trunk Road Casualty Reduction Programme, the Road Safety Improvement Fund, our Safety Camera Programme and our work to expand 20 mph areas in communities across Scotland."

Final figures will be published in October this year with possible late returns and amendments to come.