Average speed cameras could be installed on the A35 Puddletown Bypass.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said the measures were being considered for the bypass between Bere Regis and Dorchester in a bid to tackle speeding drivers.

A spokesman for Mr Underhill said no further information could be provided at this stage because work was still ongoing but that more information would be provided “as soon as is practicable”.

“Dorset Police and local authorities work in partnership to introduce measures in order to improve road safety and work towards reducing the number of those killed and injured on Dorset’s roads,” they added.

The news follows the installation of a similar system on the A338 Spur Road in Bournemouth at the beginning of the year – the first permanent average speed cameras in Dorset.

Dorset Police said at the time it would be the first of similar systems to be introduced that will "assist in road safety and to contribute to a reduction of the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads in Dorset”.

Average speed cameras use an automatic number plate recognition system to record a vehicle's front number plate at each fixed camera site. As the distance is known between these sites, the average speed can be calculated by dividing this by the time taken to travel between two points.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "All of the Dorset Road Safe fixed safety camera sites are currently under review for digital and/or average speed upgrade in discussion with the local councils and Highways England partners but no specific timescales have been set to date."

The speed limit on the Puddletown Bypass is 70mph – the route is notorious for speeding drivers.

Last year, 2,759 speed offences were detected using mobile safety camera vans or by officers from the No Excuse Team.

Last month, the Echo reported how a driver was allegedly clocked at 155mph in their Porsche.

If the driver is convicted of the offence, it is likely to be the highest speed ever recorded by Dorset Police.

A number of motorists have been convicted of driving at high speeds on the bypass. Gabriel Butnariu was caught driving at 110mph on the stretch on May 5 last year.

The 24-year-old, of St George’s Road in East London, was banned from driving, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a surcharge and costs.

In October, Timothy Hubbard, of Haycrafts Lane, Swanage, was convicted of riding his Kawasaki motorbike on the bypass at 101mph on April 26 last year. The 22-year-old was sentenced to a fine and costs. His driving record was also endorsed with six points.

Matthew Stanbury, 28, was convicted of driving a BMW at 101mph on the bypass in September 2018. Stanbury, of Wimborne Road West, Wimborne, was caught on May 10 that year. He was fined, ordered to pay costs and given six points.

Brake, the road safety charity, said: "Speeding is one of the biggest factors in all deaths on our roads and speed cameras are a proven and cost-effective way of reducing speed and preventing deaths and serious injuries.

"Brake fully supports the use of speed cameras, whether they be fixed, mobile or average. A law is only as effective as its enforcement and speed cameras are a key part of that, but we also need increased investment in roads policing so that drivers know that if they break the speed limit, they will be caught and punished.”