Hundreds of accidents on A1 between Peterborough and Blyth over eight-year period, including dozens at Stamford, Rutland, Grantham and Newark

Nearly one thousand crashes were reported on a main road during an eight-year period.

There were 968 incidents on the A1 between Peterborough and Blyth from 2015 to 2022, according to research by Midlands Connect.

Thirty-six of the crashes on the section of road were fatal.

According to CrashMap, during this time seven fatal crashes were between Peterborough and Stamford, six in Rutland, 11 from Colsterworth to Grantham and four on the stretch between Grantham and Newark.

The majority of incidents, 753, were classed as slight, the rest being classed as severe, with a wide variety of causes at play.

During this period, there were almost 300 incidents where one or both carriageways of the A1 were closed, as a result of a crash or other incidents.

Almost two-thirds of these resulted in delays of more than 15 minutes for drivers and took longer than five hours to clear.

The number of crashes reduced during the lockdown periods but has begun to creep up again more recently.

According to National Highways, which is responsible for the A1, six fatal crashes were recorded between January 2020 and June 2023 on the 35-mile section between Stamford and Newark.

A further 33 incidents involved serious injuries and 107 resulted in slight injuries during this time period.

Swati Mittal, integrated transport programme lead at Midlands Connect, said: “The A1 is such an important road running through our part of the country.

“These numbers show the need for improvements along this corridor, even though the statistics show a trend of decrease in accidents.

“Even a small crash can have a big impact on someone’s life.

“It is vital that work begins to reduce the number of crashes occurring here as soon as possible.”

Get the news delivered straight to your inbox - sign up to The Briefing here

The A1 is the longest numbered road in the UK, it connects London to Edinburgh, passing through the East Midlands.

The A52 junction near Grantham has been identified as needing improvements by Midlands Connect and councils.

A bid has been made to the government for project support as part of its third Road Investment Strategy.

If successful, this could mean that National Highways is given funding to deliver the improvements between 2025 to 2030.