Some 216 people lost their lives in 2004 - 56 fewer than in 2003.

There were also almost 1,000 fewer serious injuries in the 2004 compared with the previous 12 months, with the figure going down from 4,892 to 3,953.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's target is to cut serious injury and deaths of this sort by 40% by 2010.

Mr Livingstone said: "We are now almost within touching distance of our 2010 targets a full five years early, however, 216 deaths is totally unacceptable and I believe the time is now right to raise the bar.

"I am asking Transport for London to start work with the boroughs and the police with a view to establishing an even more challenging target of a 50% reduction by 2010 in the number of deaths and serious injuries on the Capital's roads."

The figures showed that the number of cyclists killed or hurt was down 23% and the number of car occupants who died or were injured dropped 24%.