TWO of the region's police forces have suffered sharply contrasting fortunes in the battle to stem the grim death toll on the roads.

Although deaths from all types of road accidents in the region remained steady in both 2002 and last year, in Cleveland they rose by more than 30 per cent, from 19 incidents to 25.

Police chiefs blamed the rise partly on drivers not wearing seat belts, and warned that if the trend continued deaths from road accidents would be Teesside's third-biggest killer by 2020.

A Cleveland police spokeswoman said: "The rise in fatalities is worrying and we have realised that something needs to be done about it.

"We have been running a series of roadshows in conjunction with the fire service and the Great North Air Ambulance in a bid to drive home the message about safety on the roads."

Elsewhere, according to the 2003 figures released by the Department for Transport, deaths in North Yorkshire were down year-on-year from 95 to 88.

Overall road casualties, including non-fatalities, were also down from 4,635 to 4,467 - the only county in the region to record a decrease. Sergeant Pete Mason, of the county's road policing section, said: "We have increased the number of highly visible patrols targeting casualty hotspots to actively try to reduce the number of serious and fatal injuries."

In Durham and Northumbria, the number of road accident deaths remained the same year-on-year at 42 and 65 respectively.

Nationally, 3,508 people died on the roads in 2003 - two per cent more than in 2002. Overall, road casualties in 2003 totalled 290,607 - four per cent down on the 2002 figure.

Child and pedestrian casualties were down, although motorcycle accident casualties were up by 14 per cent.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said it was disappointing that for the first time in six years the number of road deaths had risen above 3,500.