RESIDENTS and businesses are up in arms over traffic calming measures they claim are making roads more dangerous.

They say the measures in Wool High Street are an ‘accident waiting to happen’.

Kevin Batch, who has more than 1,100 signatures on a petition, said: “I don’t know whose idea it was. We were given the chance to put forward our own suggestions a couple of months ago, but they weren’t taken on board and the next thing we knew changes were being made that we think make the road more dangerous.”

Mr Batch, who is suffering from a terminal illness, was prompted to take action after he and his wife had a near-miss with another car along the road, just two days after he returned from brain surgery. He has now made it his ‘crusade’, he said.

Locals say the road narrowing exercise has caused problems because other measures to stop motorists parking on verges mean they are now forced to park in the street, causing an obstruction and blocking views.

Alex Brenton, road safety campaigner for the area, said: “Often we are campaigning for traffic calming measures to make the roads safer, but these changes actually seem to have made the road more dangerous.

“During the season this road is used by many holiday-makers towing caravans and horse boxes. It’s a through road not a rural backwater.”

Andrew Brown, from Dorset County Council, said: “The scheme was the result of a request by the parish council to provide a consistent, safe footway throughout the village.

“In order to construct the footway where there was not one previously, it was necessary to narrow some of the road. The scheme went through a full public consultation in conjunction with the parish council, in which it met with the approval of the majority of people.”

The council said it would review the scheme in line with standard procedure for all new traffic projects.