MOTORCYCLISTS are being warned to take extra care on Craven's roads after it was revealed the area accounted for almost a quarter of all road deaths in North Yorkshire.

A total of nine people were killed on Craven's roads last year - up from seven the year before.

Although road deaths across North Yorkshire as a whole were down to 40, from 51 in 2013, almost a quarter were in Craven.

The majority, five, were motorcyclists, two were in cars and there was also one pedal cyclist and one pedestrian killed.

North Yorkshire County Council said the Dales continued to be an attractive place for people on motorbikes and it would be carrying out a detailed analysis of all collisions and crashes last year.

A spokesman said: "We will do this work this autumn to find out what is happening and why and then to see what we can do about it. We will then work with the motorcycling communities, groups and venues to address this once we have a clearer understanding of these crashes.”

The total number of people killed or seriously injured in 2014 on Craven's roads was also up from 50 to 58, while the number of casualties in road collisions went down by 12 per cent from 251 to 220.

The number of cyclists injured or killed went down 17 per cent from 29 to 24, although it was still higher than the national average.