The number of people killed on Sussex's roads leapt by almost ten per cent last year, new figures have revealed.

There were 100 deaths from roads crashes in the county in 2001 - almost two every week.

This compares with 92 the previous year and 93 in 1999.

Georgina Dey, who has lost two sons in road accidents, predicts the death toll will continue to rise.

Mrs Dey, 58, a member of road safety campaigning group Roadpeace, said: "Until there are proper deterrents for speeding drivers, there will be more deaths.

"There are some real idiots on the roads and a car in the wrong hands is a lethal weapon."

She called for lower speed limits, more traffic police and tougher penalties for drivers convicted of speeding.

She and her husband David, of Beach Road, Selsey, near Chichester, lost their 32-year-old son Tim in a motorbike accident in 1999.

Another son Barry, 29, was killed on the A24 in West Sussex in May 2000.

The biker from Reading who caused Tim's death was jailed for two years.

Two men charged with dangerous driving in the wake of Barry's death shared a fine of £700.

Mrs Day said: "In America, when they say a 50mph limit, they mean 50mph. Here, drivers just put their foot down and laugh at you."

An AA report in February called three Sussex roads, the A21, A259 and A26, as among the least safe in the South.

The number of people seriously injured on Sussex roads dipped from 1,072 in 1999 and 1,012 in 2000 to 978 last year.

But across the UK the number of people killed on roads rose from 3,409 to 3,443.

The increase threatens the Government's target for cutting the number of deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent between 1998 and 2010.

Road safety minister David Jamieson said: "The number of deaths and injuries on the roads is much lower than a decade ago but still too high."

There were 4,568 deaths on UK roads in 1991.