A £200,000 scheme to make accident blackspot roads in east Cleveland safer has been approved.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has chosen nine schemes that will help reduce the number of fatal, serious injury accidents and child casualties on the borough's roads.

Between 1998 and 2000 there were more than 100 accidents on the roads.

Now Redcar and Cleveland is set to develop nine schemes in the borough, which it believes will maximise its casualty reduction rate.

The speed limit on the A171 from Little Waterfall Farm, outside Guisborough to Birk Brow is to be reduced to 50mph.

Cleveland Police said that speed cameras will also be put in to help reduce both speed and accident numbers further.

Other changes include improvements to the signing of both the uphill and downhill bends on Birk Brow, on the A171 road to Whitby, as well as bend warning signs, chevron boards and a reflective barrier.

The speed limit on the bends is also set to be reduced to 30mph and the downhill section at the lower bend is to be reduced to a single lane, and appropriate signing and road markings put in place.

These are lane reductions and a filter lane on the A174 Kirkleatham roundabout, near Redcar, the implementation of a cycleway from Greystones roundabout to the Wilton site, changes to the junction layout from the A174 into Lazenby village, and safer alterations to the foot path.

A safety barrier and road studs to alert motorists to a bend in the road between the village of Newton under Roseberry to the borough boundary with North Yorkshire will be provided as well.

A ghost island is to be created to help people turning right from the A171 into Slapewath village

There are also a series of small devices aimed to help reduce congestion and raise awareness of problems at Gurney Street, in New Marske.

Councillor Sylvia Szintai, lead member for environment and infrastructure, said: "This has been our primary aim and that is why we are the safest borough in the country, because we put whatever money we have into reducing accidents and we have been successful in this."