PEOPLE who feared lives were at risk from lorries driving on the pavement in their narrow street are overjoyed after land was released to build a relief road.

Householders in St George's Road, Dorchester, say homes are cracking and pavements are crumbling because of the heavy traffic to a dump and factories at Louds Mill.

They are worried that someone could be knocked over and killed when lorries and cars mount the pavement to pass each other in the road, where vehicles park on both sides.

But now the Duchy of Cornwall has finally released land that could be used for a relief road from Lubbecke Way to Louds Mill.

And campaigners hope that the decision could signal an end to the traffic problems they have suffered.

Residents' spokesman Tony Lyall said: "I have been negotiating with the Duchy office for quite some time and we have finally got the go-ahead.

"I am delighted, and all the residents in the roads around here are very pleased.

I only hope that when the relief road goes ahead that the cars, lorries and vans going to the industrial units at the end will use that, rather than thunder along St George's Road."

The new road from Lubbecke Way features in the new Local Plan, which goes up for public consultation next week.

West Dorset residents are being urged to get to their local council office or library to look at the plan, which details major proposals for the district over the next 14 years.

The Duchy of Cornwall's estates manager Simon Conibear said: "We would like to bring this forward for development, but there are still a number if issues to be resolved, such as the flood plains.

"But we hope to be able to put it forward for consideration shortly, but the final plans will be subject to planning permission and all sorts of things."