FRESH calls to improve safety on a ‘dangerous’ Dorchester road have been made to town councillors.

Local residents addressed members of Dorchester Town Council’s planning and environment committee to raise their fears over the potential for a serious accident on Clarence Road due to an increase in parked traffic down both sides of the road.

The calls come after Poundbury resident Margaret Morrissey dubbed the street ‘the most dangerous road in Dorchester’ and called on local authorities to take action, Clarence Road resident Bob Kerr told members of the committee that the increase in parked cars meant he had trouble entering and exiting his property.

He said: “The cars are parked on both sides of the road and parked right up to my drive.

“I can’t see any cars coming within possibly about ten metres in either direction and it’s only a matter of time before someone will crash into me, it’s dangerous.”

He added: “Our primary concern is also we are right on a road where hundreds of children each day walk up to Dorchester Middle School and the Thomas Hardye School.

“I have seen some of them crossing the road and narrowly missing a car or a car narrowly missing them.

“There is also a question of fire engines and ambulances coming down because if cars are parked on both sides it is effectively a one-way road, it’s serious.”

Councillor Trevor Jones proposed that a consultation exercise planned by the town council in the coming weeks for the Queens Avenue area be extended to include Clarence Road, a suggestion that was backed by the committee.

He said: “It may be that there is no manageable solution but we owe it to these people in that area who have had their lives blighted to a least address their concerns and show them we are taking them seriously.”

Cllr Molly Rennie said it was also important to look at the wider issue of parking in the area and the knock on effects on other roads.

She said: “If we do things piecemeal it just moves the problems elsewhere.”