A bid to make Norfolk's treacherous rural roads safer will see measures including new speed cameras, widened roads and trees and undergrowth removed.North-east Norfolk will be at forefront of a three year trial where radical new approaches to road safety will be introduced in a bid to cut casualties and deaths on country roads.

A bid to make Norfolk's treacherous rural roads safer will see measures including new speed cameras, widened roads and trees and undergrowth removed.

North-east Norfolk will be at forefront of a three year trial where radical new approaches to road safety will be introduced in a bid to cut casualties and deaths on country roads.

If successful, it could pave the way for similar techniques to be introduced across the country.

Norfolk is one of four counties chosen by the government to take part in the £8m Rural Road Safety Demonstration Project because of its success in cutting numbers of serious injuries and deaths since the 1990s.

Norfolk County Council has been given a grant of £1.5m to invest in innovative ways of bettering road safety on all types of country road, from fast and busy A and B roads to the miles of quiet lanes and byways.

They chose to target the roads around Cromer, Aylsham, Hoveton and Caister.

A study showed 40pc of the country's road crash fatalities take place on fast rural A roads while 21pc accidents involve single vehicles leaving the road and hitting trees and other objects.

While action is needed, measures such as the extensive use of crash barriers or the wholesale removal of roadside trees would be inappropriate, said a spokesman for Norfolk County Council

Adrian Gunson, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for planning and transportation said: “The measures we are taking aim to reduce risky behaviour by drivers but also reduce the consequences of mistakes.”

New measures include -

New rear facing speed cameras on the A149 at Stalham targeting motorbikes;

An extra metre of carriageway on various A roads at junctions and on bends so that drivers can correct mistakes and people can get out of the way if someone is coming towards them;

Raise the crown of the trees on all the A roads so they are more forgiving of drivers mistakes - this would include felling some self seeded trees but not chopping down mature trees;

Educate drivers to be considerate when they are driving through villages and on minor roads and introduce speed awareness campaigns that include new safety cameras;

Introduce new green derestirction signs - this would involve a green band that would be displayed on small rural roads and byways to warn drivers that lower speeds and other dangers on country roads exist.

Illuminated chevron signs on the A1075 which will light up if drivers are taking a bend too fast.