Road deaths in Oxfordshire have soared more than four-fold.

Seventeen people have been killed on the county's roads so far this year -- compared with three in the same period last year. Three have been on the M40 but there is no obvious pattern.

There have been four deaths in the past four days. The most recent was a pedestrian hit by a lorry as he tried to cross the A40 east of Oxford yesterday.

A motorcylist was killed in a collision with a van on the A4130 in Milton, near Abingdon, on March 23.

The victims of this year's fatal accidents were five male pedestrians, five male drivers, four women drivers, two male motorcyclists and a male car passenger.

A variety of ages, locations,and vehicle types have been involved. Police and Oxfordshire County Council have appealed to motorists to take more care in a bid to reverse the trend.

David Robertson, county council executive member for transport and highways, said: "These figures are extremely worrying. The county council works very hard to make our roads safer through engineering measures and the introduction of new speed limits.

"I can only hope that the remainder of the year will produce better results."

This year's increase follows a 40 per cent fall in road deaths in Oxfordshire in the past five years. In 2002, there were 37, compared with 49 in 2001, 63 in 2000, 57 in 1999 and 63 in 1998. The figures were compiled by the county council, based on reports from Thames Valley Police.

Anthony Kirkwood, of the county council's accident investigations team, said: "We would like to be able to give the public specific advice on how to avoid these crashes. Because they involve road users of all ages, vehicle types and different locations, it makes engineering solutions almost impossible. Therefore, we have to rely on road users to modify their behaviour if we are to reverse this trend."

Insp Steve Bridges, head of traffic policing in Oxfordshire, said: "The figures are concerning because every death is one too many."