An 8-mile stretch of road in Cheshire often used as a race track by motorcyclists is Britain's most dangerous highway while many major routes are still unsafe, according to a survey.

The single carriageway section of road between Macclesfield and Buxton has seen 43 fatal or serious accidents since 2001, most of them bikers, according to the Road Safety Foundation.

The accidents have continued despite Cheshire County Council's attempts to improve safety by bringing in new crash barriers.

However, if motorbikes were not included in the analysis, the road would in fact be one of the safest. Instead, the 6-mile bendy stretch of the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield in Yorkshire would take its place as the country's worst road.

"The fact that the Macclesfield to Buxton road tops the list of Britain's most dangerous roads highlights the fundamental issue of road-user behaviour when it comes to safety," said Dr Joanne Hill who heads the Road Safety Foundation.

A road's safety rating is based on factors such as the number of serious accidents, its design and the number of safety measures.

The Foundation's research concluded that 30 percent of primary "A" roads did not meet expected standards in safety while almost a quarter of motorways fell outside the safest band.

That was despite and an overall drop in risk of 18 percent on the country's major routes.

"Despite significant advances in knowledge, engineering practice and road-safety countermeasures, 30 percent of the primary A road sections do not achieve even the top two safest risk bands that we would expect as the minimum safety level for these strategic roads," Hill said.

The survey found that the worst roads were concentrated in the north and central England, while the most improved road was the A453 in Staffordshire.

A full list of Britain's most dangerous roads can be seen here