Two crossing patrol sites along a main road in Weymouth are to be given an upgrade to improve safety for schoolchildren and other pedestrians.

Engineers at Dorset County Council have put forward design proposals for the Rylands Lane and Whitecross Drive school crossings along the A354 Buxton Road.

The upgrades hope to raise the profile of the sites, heighten driver awareness and improve the walking routes to Holy Trinity Primary School and All Saints School, both of which support the plans.

The plans come after an incident on Buxton Road near Rylands Lane last year in which a car was in collision with a lollipop lady and three children.

Police said the lollipop lady sustained a fractured skull, a small bleed to the brain and a broken wrist. One of the schoolchildren suffered a broken arm and the two others escaped with minor scrapes and bruising.

A driver later pleaded guilty to careless driving.

Dorset County Council says following this collision, engineers examined the crossing facilities in the area and although no safety concerns were raised from their assessments, some enhancements were identified which could improve the routes for all pedestrians.

Improvements for the Rylands Lane crossing include revised ‘Give Way’ road markings, the replacement of the current island with an enlarged refuge island, and the widening of the crossing points on either side of the road to 2m.

Improvements around the Whitecross Drive crossing include enlarging the current refuge island, the introduction of a small kerbed island on Buxton Road with a reflective bollard and the introduction of tactile paving by the junction.

County councillor for Rodwell Clare Sutton said: “Walking to school has many benefits – it improves children’s health and allows them to travel independently, and it reduces the number of cars on our roads – and in order to encourage more pupils to walk to school, we need to do all we can to provide safe routes.

"We should all welcome these improvements in providing safer crossing sites for both the children and parents that use them, and for the crossing patrol attendants themselves.”

A spokesman for the council said that to keep traffic to a minimum, work on the crossings is currently scheduled for October half term.