A scarecrow encouraging speeding drivers to slow down suffered an ill fate.

Chris Hildred made the scarecrow for a village competition in Buckland Newton.

The competition aimed to to advertise a charity open gardens event held in the village this weekend to raise fund for Marie Curie.

"There are lots of scarecrows all round the village," Mr Hildred said. "They're on people's walls and in their front gardens. They've been popping up all over the shop."

He added he thought his idea for the scarecrow was created in 'good humour'.

"We have a serious problem with speeding in this village. Because the road is downhill people don't bother to slow down so I thought, let's have a speed scarecrow cop. I thought it was good fun."

The scarecrow, donning a hi-viz jacket and shades, was placed outside Mr Hildred's house, situated in the middle of the 30mph limit zone on the B3143 near to Buckland Newton School.

Mr Hildred said the scarecrow had been stationed outside his house for three days and neighbours had commented on the difference it had made to traffic.

"Everyone noticed cars slowing down," he said.

However, according to Mr Hildred, people claiming to be from Dorset Highways removed the scarecrow after they deemed it unsafe for motorists.

"I was in the back garden at the time so they didn't even speak to me but they did speak to my neighbour. They said it was causing people to suddenly slow down and it was dangerous.

"It's a bit ludicrous when it is surrounded by lots of other scarecrows."

Mr Hildred said the scarecrow was 'picked up and chucked' into his front garden, breaking its arm and leg.

A Dorset County Council spokesman said they were investigating the incident to establish who removed the scarecrow.

The spokesman added: “Dorset County Council highways personnel work across the county assessing roads and associated structures. Each vehicle has a tracker which means that we can identify where and when they were at a location. We will look into this situation and find out what happened.”

Fortunately, Mr Hildred was able to repair the injured scarecrow and he is back on the road - but this time holding a bunch of flowers.