CALLS are growing for action to stop drivers “rat running” through a Corfe Mullen road where a serious collision took place last week.

Richard Williams, one of the first people at the scene of Tuesday morning’s crash outside the Esso Service Station at Windgreen, has started a petition to have the slip road closed.

As well as being used to access the petrol station, it is used as a cut-through by motorists to avoid the nearby roundabout at the junction of Blandford Road, Wareham Road and Lockyers Road.

The 44-year-old woman injured in the crash works at the service station and is still in a critical condition at Southampton General Hospital.

County and parish councillor Susan Jefferies said: “It is dangerous and a bit congested. We did try to close it at one end two or three years ago, but the petrol station has to keep access for delivery tankers.

“We couldn’t find a solution. Now I think we must.

“Mr Williams came to see the parish council on Tuesday night and the majority are totally behind him, although one or two did comment that it wasn’t the road’s fault but the way people drive on it.”

District and parish councillor Anne Holland said: “It’s a very, very dangerous slip road. People use it as a cut-through – they see a queue at the roundabout and try to avoid it.”

She added that there had been moves to close the slip road, part of the old Wareham Road, when the new section leading into the roundabout was built.

But because of the way Esso services the garage, it was not practical to close it at the Blandford Road end, although she thought it might be possible to close it at the other end.

The parish council is to write to the county council to ask it to look into the problem.

A spokesman for Esso’s parent company, Exxon Mobil UK, said: “We remain most concerned about our colleague who was injured in an accident on the highway near the entrance to Windgreen service station on Tuesday.

“The police and the traffic authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.

“Esso is steadfast in its commitment to safety and we will provide whatever assistance we can.”