Young people account for around a quarter of deaths on roads in the greater Bristol area, the Government has revealed.

Records from the Department for Transport show 14 of the 63 fatalities in the city over four years were aged 25 and under. The pattern was reflected in other parts with nine of the 40 (22 per cent) roads deaths in Bath and North East Somerset in the younger age bracket and nine of the 33 in North Somerset (27 per cent).

But that rose to 40 per cent in South Gloucestershire, where 25 of the 61 killed between 2004 and 2008 were 25 or under.

The victims included pedestrians, motorcyclists and passengers, as well as motorists.

The data, released in response to a Parliamentary question, prompted an admission that the Government is concerned about a "small minority" of young drivers who put themselves and others at risk.

A DfT spokeswoman said: "The majority of new drivers seek to be responsible and safe but we are of course concerned that a small minority of drivers, particularly those in the 17-to-25 age group, put themselves and others at risk.

"The latest figures show that the total numbers of deaths in crashes involving car drivers aged 17 to 24 years fell by 22 per cent from the 2007 figure but we know we still need to do more.

"That is why we recently announced a major overhaul of the driver training and testing process. This includes a new pre-driver qualification for 14-17 year olds and improvements to the theory and practical tests – including introducing a new assessment of a candidate's ability to drive independently – to better prepare young drivers for the road. We're confident that this new approach will help us to further reduce the number of deaths and injuries."