TRAFFIC police in Dorchester will be conducting extra patrols after a surge in complaints from members of the public about dangerous driving around roadworks in the town.

Police have said there has been a number of complaints about motorists driving dangerously around the road improvement works that are being completed at the Culliford Road bridge in Dorchester, at the junction with the Prince of Wales Road.

The main issue reported to police in the town has been impatient motorists driving dangerously around the roadworks by speeding and not slowing down sufficiently due to the extra hazard.

There have also been several reports of drivers ignoring the No Entry sign which has been put up on the lower part of Monmouth Road near to the railway bridge in order to make an illegal shortcut.

PC Jim Long, Dorchester Town’s Safer Neighbourhood Team’s beat manager, said: “We are fully aware of the frustrations that these roadworks can cause but that is no excuse to break the law by being tempted to take an illegal shortcut.

“We will be conducting extra patrols in the area while the road works are ongoing and any drivers caught contravening the no entry signs will be dealt by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice.”