BUSINESSES in Dorchester are being urged to have their say on possible future projects designed to improve the town.

Dorchester Business Improvement District - BID - leaders have drawn up a list of possible ways to make the town a better place to live.

Schemes include everything from a land train to making the county town a plastic bag-free zone.

Now shops, offices and other businesses in the town are being asked to vote on their favourite on the BID's website and even add a few ideas of their own.

BID project manager, Phil Gordon said a list of ideas on how to improve the town and they had now been added to the Idea Bank.

But he said he would welcome other ideas.

"We need to know businesses' ideas for how Dorchester could be improved," he said.

"There are three ways you could let us know.

"People can register on the website and add their ideas to the ideas bank. Phone or email me or tell him when I visits your business or tell us at one of the two remaining open themed meetings."

Mr Gordon said that he was also encouraging people to vote for their favourite projects.

Registered businesses get five votes a month.

"We want businesses to get involved and have their say on how the town is shaped in the future."

The top three projects at the moment are: * Town promotion - Pay for a range of town promotion activities over and above those undertaken by the district council.

These could include promotional leaflets and advertising, tour guides, street entertainment programmes, welcome packs for tourist accommodation and town crying.

* Land Train - An eco-friendly fun ride to travel between the different shopping areas once the Charles Street development and brewery site come on stream, having a fun ride for all the family that runs in a loop taking people from one shopping area to another.

* Pay-on-exit parking - Campaign in support of the idea of pay-on-exit parking and work with the local authority to promote the widest use of this method of parking in the town.

Further details on the BID - a precisely defined geographical area within which businesses have voted to invest collectively in improvements and the proposed projects - are available from www. dorchesterdorset.co.uk