Schoolchildren have been warned about road safety through a village in west Dorset which does not have a pedestrian crossing.

As previously reported, campaigners in Burton Bradstock are calling for improvements to make the roads safer, particularly a pedestrian crossing installed.

Currently there is no crossing on the entire stretch of the B3157 coast road between Bridport and Weymouth.

The main part of the village has a 30mph limit however at the eastern end past the Texaco garage it goes up to 40mph and past Beach Road it turns to 50mph.

In Burton Bradstock, children regularly cross the road to reach the village shop or to go to the beach.

Concerns have been raised that the speed limit of 40mph in parts of the village is too high and even where the limit is 30mph, it is not always followed by motorists.

A spokesperson for Burton Bradstock CE Primary said: “We have raised our concerns about this issue a number of times over the last few years, including with the parish council and with our local MP, Chris Loder, who came into school to hear directly from our children about this. 

“We also regularly hold assemblies and class discussions focused on road safety so that the children have a better awareness and know how to keep themselves safe. 

“We strongly support any moves to introduce a new pedestrian crossing and any plans to reduce the speed limit so that our roads are safer for the children and our wider school community.”

Cllr Lisanne Mealing, chair of Burton Bradstock Parish Council said: "Without these changes, we face an ongoing and unacceptable risk of serious injuries or deaths along this stretch of the road from collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians, including schoolchildren. We need a safe crossing point for the schoolchildren in particular."

A survey by the parish council of 178 households in the village found that 74 per cent of residents were generally concerned about the speed of vehicles along the main road.

Of these, 66 per cent would like speed limits to be reduced to 20mph for at least part of the village.

The councillors are also calling for the speed limit to be changed to extend the 30mph zone to Beach Road, where many schoolchildren cross to reach Hive Beach.