PRESSURE is mounting for a council to rethink its decision not to name new roads in Poundbury after Dorset war heroes.

The Duchy of Cornwall approached Dorchester Town Council with a view to naming streets in Poundbury in honour of the Dorset Regiment and Dorset soldiers who received a Victoria Cross.

The move has the backing of the Prince of Wales.

But members of Dorchester Town Council's planning and environment committee rejected proposals, saying it would open the floodgates to naming other streets after people and said that they were concerned that some names could be missed off.

They said that the names did not fit in with the existing theme of farm names being used for most of the development's roads. But old soldiers attending a coffee morning in Dorchester yesterday launched a petition calling on the town council to think again.

And they agreed to attend the next full meeting to make their feelings known.

Derek Julian, who served with the Devon and Dorsets and has spearheaded a campaign against the decision, told members of the regimental association that pressure was mounting on the council to change its mind and he called on supporters to attend the next full Dorchester Town Council meeting on July 24.

"I would ask for a dignified assembly of as many people as possible to put this wrong right. The more pressure we put on them the better because it cannot stand."

Gary Beresford, who also served with the Dorsets, said he had written to MP Oliver Letwin who agreed to write to town clerk Dennis Holmes.

Tiddler Damon, who served with the regiment in the 1950s, said: "It's like a family being part of the regiment.

"We must do something to remember these people."

But not all those who attended the coffee morning were in agreement. Stan Groves said he admired what campaigners were trying to do but he feared it could set a precedent for naming streets after more and more people. "If we do this people are going to say - what about me'," he said.

Town clerk Dennis Holmes said that the town council was going to reconsider the decision in the light of comments.

Suggestions for the streets included Kohima and Peninsular after battles and campaigns involving the regiment, Vickery after a Dorset regiment soldier who was awarded the VC and Sarah Sands, the name of a ship on which Dorset soldiers showed valour in tackling a devastating fire and the regiment was awarded honours by Queen Victoria.