ANOTHER fatal crash on a Cotswolds road has prompted new calls for safety action.

A husband and wife were killed when their black Kia car and a horse box crashed on the A436 in Stow-on-the-Wold on Boxing Day.

The 67-year-old man and 58-year-old woman were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which happened near the Bledington turning at around 2.30pm.

It was the latest of a series of fatal crashes in the Cotswold district, which is the most dangerous place to drive in the county according to Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership.

On December 20, a taxi driver died after a crash on the A429 near Northleach.

The fatal collisions have sparked the formation of a Gloucestershire County Council task group, which has been set up to improve road safety on the A429 and other roads, and met for the first time last week.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, one of the leaders of the task group, said the county council must act quickly to prevent more tragedies.

“The county council needs to take a step back and look at the A roads and see if there is anything at all that can be done to improve road safety,” Cllr Hodgkinson said.

“This year has been a particularly awful year for road deaths in the Cotswolds. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this happening?

"That is why we have formed the A429 task group, but clearly it is not that simple.

"We do not know the consequences of all the deaths that have occurred. Any death is just one too many.”

Despite having smaller populations than both Gloucester and Cheltenham, Cotswold district is the scene of far more accidents.

In 2014, there were 253 casualties in the Cotswolds caused by road accidents, compared to 159 in Cheltenham and 200 Gloucester.

Of the 253 casualties in the Cotswolds, 38 resulted in serious injury – those needing hospital treatment or resulting in death after 30 days - and 10 in death.

Cllr Hodgkinson said that he believes that drivers trying to overtake on roads which have poor visibility are to blame for some of the accidents.

“Visibility can be difficult at times," he said. "People get frustrated because they cannot overtake.”

A horse was injured in the Stow collision which claimed the life of the couple.

Anyone who witnessed the crash on the A436 on Boxing Day is asked to call Gloucestershire police on 101 quoting incident number 161 of December 26.