Castle Morpeth among forklift fatality blackspots
Northumberland is the UK's worst blackspot for deaths involving fork lift trucks, new figures have shown.
The county suffers more fork lift-related fatalities per head of its population than anywhere else in the country, according to statistics from the Fork Lift Truck Association.
The Berwick area was home to the most per capita deaths from fork lift truck accidents between 2001 and 2008.
Three other Northumberland districts - Alnwick, Castle Morpeth and Tynedale - are also in the UK's worst 10 areas for such fatalities.
The full top 10 is Berwick, Ribble Valley in Lancashire, Alnwick, Halton in Cheshire, Melton in Leicestershire, Castle Morpeth, Mendip in Somerset, Craven in Yorkshire, Tynedale and Maldon in Essex.
The list takes into account population figures to give a fairer representation of death numbers, regardless of the size of areas.
The association hopes the fatality figures will help reduce the death and accident toll by raising awareness of the issue during its National Fork Lift Safety Week campaign, which is currently running.
Chief executive David Ellison said: "There are currently twice as many accidents in the north of England as there are in the south.''
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