Up to £90,000 may be spent improving the area around Dorchester's Town Pump at the northern end of South Street.

A grant for the funding is being requested by the town council which will carry out the £200,000 project as the final stage of the South Street improvement works.

The entire project, which has included re-paving of the street, will have cost more than £1 million when completed.

District councillors are being asked to agree the grant at a strategy committee meeting on February 7.

It will include new paving, seating and new bollards which restrict the flow of traffic when the street is supposed to be pedestrian-only.

The cost of automatic barriers are being considered which would put an end to unauthorised vehicles using the street at times when they should be banned.

The town council say the work would start on site in January 2020 and would be completed in time for the re-opening of the refurbished County Museum in May 2020.

The timescale would allow time for consultations about how best to control both vehicle access and deal with the use of advertising boards by businesses in the area.