DRIVERS are being urged to take extra care and be patient as delays are expected on roads across the county.

With thousands of people heading to the coast for the bank holiday weekend and several events taking place traffic is expected to be heavy on all main routes.

It follows long delays on the A35 yesterday due to a crash and holiday traffic. 

The road was partially blocked at The Hill, near Axminster, at about 5.30pm and there was very slow traffic in the area as a result.

As holidaymakers made their way to Dorset for a bank holiday break, there were further delays and very slow traffic in both directions from the Esso roundabout, Bridport, to Morcombelake and again heading east towards the Monkeys Jump roundabout in Dorchester.

Drivers reported a travel time of 45 minutes to get from Charmouth to Bridport.

Today there were reports of delays on the following roads, all of which have now eased.

Queueing traffic on A35 both ways at A351 (Bakers Arms Roundabout).
Queueing traffic on A35 Sea Road South Eastbound from Tizards Knap (Morcombelake) to B3157 Burton Road (Crown roundabout, Bothenhampton).Queueing traffic on A35 Sea Road South Westbound from Shipton Road (Walditch) to A3066 Sea Road North (Esso roundabout, Bridport).

Heavy traffic on the A35 Westbound from Puddletown to Stinsford Hill (Stinsford roundabout, Dorchester) and on the A35 Dorchester Bypass Westbound before A37/B3150 (Monkeys Jump Roundabout). Heavy traffic on A35 Eastbound at A31 (Shell roundabout). Heavy traffic on A35 Dorchester Bypass Eastbound at A354 Monkton Hill (Stadium Roundabout). Travel time is six minutes.

Heavy traffic on Weymouth Relief Road heading into the town centre around the Jurassic Roundabout.

Weymouth Esplanade is congested due to the volume of traffic.

Traffic heavier than normal on A351 between Wareham and B3351 (Corfe Castle). Travel time is 17 minutes.

There are also delays on the A354 Salisbury Road both ways from Tarrant Hinton turn off (Tarrant Hinton) to Anvil Road (Pimperne) due to the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

And traffic is slow-moving on the A31 Westbound from Cobham Road (Ferndown) to A349 (Merley Roundabout, Wimborne).

On the trains there are delays of up to ten minutes on South Western Railway between Bournemouth and Brockenhurst due to speed restrictions.

An AA spokesman said that motorists should give themseleves plenty of time to make journeys and be well prepared.