'Poor behaviour' prompts one-way reminder for drivers

Residents living near a road closure are being contacted to "remind" them of temporary one-way routes after reports of dangerous incidents.

The C13 at Dinah's Hollow near Shaftesbury, Dorset, is closed for a year while the embankments are stabilised following a number of landslips.

One-way routes are in place between Melbury Abbas and West Melbury, and at East Melbury, but the council said the signs were being ignored due to a "misunderstanding" that they were not mandatory.

It said it would be writing to residents and introducing "slow" signage in a bid to tackle what it described as "poor driver behaviour".

Dorset councillor for Beacon ward, Jane Somper, said on Facebook that she had received a "significant number of emails and calls raising concerns and constructive suggestions" during the first week of the roadworks.

Residents responded saying they had witnessed numerous cars going the wrong way, near-misses, temporary traffic lights stuck on red and vehicles driving too fast through the diversions.

A Dorset Council spokesperson said: "We're writing again to local residents to remind them of the one-way system in place, as there had been a misunderstanding that the system was advisory rather than mandatory."

They said satnav information and portable messaging signs were in place, adding: "None of the above can compensate for poor driver behaviour or drivers ignoring road signage."

The authority is also in talks with Clayesmore School in Iwerne Minster amid concerns about traffic management, which it said had been "exacerbated due to the lights failing".

Traffic problems were also compounded on 7 January, when a lorry became stuck on Zig Zag Hill, blocking the route.

Dorset Council said HGVs getting stuck on the hill was a long-standing problem and the road was not part of its signed diversion.