Only half of the motorways in the UK scored the top four-star ranking, meaning the other half of the UK roads could not meet safety standards.

According to the Road Safety Foundation, only two-thirds of the UK’s 1,600 km of single carriageway trunk roads scored just two stars on the rating standards, while 78 per cent of dual roads received three-stars.

The highest rating on the scale is four-stars, which is provided to only those motorways which are devoid of deficiencies.

A 9.5-mile motorway of the A5 between Daventry and Rugby was rated the least safe road.

Road Safety Foundation’s director Dr. Joanne Hill said the team issued stars on the basis of three key elements viz. the safety of junctions, the protection provided to vehicles in case they run off the road and the risk of head-on accidents.

The chairman of the European Road Assessment Programme, John Dowson, said that many of the accidents ending into fatalities happen on one or two star roads.

John Dowson urged the Government to improve the roads urgently.