WORRIED villagers living along the C12 Old Sherborne Road are pleading for the speed limit to be reduced.

Residents and business owners in Cosmore, between Dorchester and Sherborne, say the route is unsafe and plagued by write-offs and near-misses.

The C12 was the scene of the horrific head-on crash that left four people dead in February.

Now Cosmore villagers want the speed limit cut from 60mph to 40mph before someone is seriously hurt.

Resident Paul Bongers de Rath said: "It's potentially hazardous to enter or leave the road in Cosmore. While there have been mercifully few bad accidents here in recent years there have been at least two write-offs.

"We're experiencing increasingly frequent near-misses as well as many expressions of anger or impatience by passing motorists."

More than 20 villagers, led by Mr Bongers de Rath and wife Margaret, have signed the plea.

It has been sent to councillors and directors at Dorset County Council and West Dorset District Council and Dorset Police.

Mr Bongers de Rath, of Old Lawn Place, wants the 40mph limit to run from Middlemarsh to the top of Revels Hill.

He said: "The fatal collision on another part of the C12 in February, following other fatal accidents in the last three years, sadly highlights why it's necessary for a 40mph speed limit.

"Numerous entrances from the road to active rural businesses, farms and several residential properties mean the speeds at which many people habitually travel on the higher stretches of this road are absolutely not safe.

"The current 60mph limit is dangerous. We don't have very good lines of sight and we do feel very nervous.

"Revels Farm and Fishery in Cosmore is a busy rural business and it would be just awful if one of their customers was involved in a serious accident."

Mr Bongers de Rath said the residents appreciate that the C12 is up for consideration later this year under the county council's major review of speed limits in rural areas.

"The council are doing the right thing and we're not saying they should drop everything else," he added. "But we want them to know we're serious and that we want it resolved.

"We understand the process and we're content to wait for it to go ahead, as long as it actually does and we're consulted when the time comes.

"But we don't accept the road on which we live must achieve a high proven collision record before our basic safety and amenity are protected with a speed limit of the kind applied in most small communities in the area."