Half of all serious or fatal road accidents in Essex happen less than three miles from the driver or rider's home, new figures show.

The Essex Safety Camera Partnership is so concerned at the results of its research, it is now launching a campaign to stop drivers speeding in their own neighbourhoods.

The Stop Community Speeding Campaign uses hard hitting images of bereaved mothers laying flowers by the side of the road.

The posters, captioned, "she knew her son's killer - he lived across the road", will appear on billboards and bus shelters throughout the county.

Spokeswoman Roberta Everitt said: "We get a huge amount of correspondence from Essex residents requesting safety cameras in their local communities because they feel speeding is such a problem.

"However, this data also shows that a lot of the time it's local drivers who are causing the problem.

"Speeding anywhere is antisocial and dangerous, but if you're also speeding in your own community you could be putting at risk someone you know, maybe even a neighbour or friend.

"We hope this campaign will make drivers stop and think before they put their foot down and risk their lives and the lives of those around them."

The partnership is also inviting people to send in photographs illustrating the message behind the campaign for a competition.

The photos will be on display at Southend Civic Centre in Victoria Avenue from Monday, January 29 to Friday, February 9.

The campaign also features radio adverts describing the devastating consequences for a driver who killed his neighbour's son after hitting him while speeding.