A BIG step forward has been taken by campaigners for a crossing near Blandford St Mary Primary School.

County Hall road safety chiefs have said the volume of pedestrians counted in a survey justifies the need for a crossing on Bournemouth Road.

Mums and dads left their cars at home for two weeks last month in a bid to prove the need for a crossing to those conducting the survey.

Now campaigners must wait to see if an influential council committee places their request near the top of a priority list for inclusion in the crossing budget for the next financial year.

Blind mother-of-three Emelye Purser has campaigned for a crossing on Bournemouth Road since she and her baby son were involved in a collision there in 2006.

Mrs Purser described the letter as "wonderful news", adding that a crossing would liberate her from the necessity of buses and taxi rides and allow her to travel to the school at short notice like other parents.

Paul Lavis, head teacher of Blandford St Mary Primary School, said the "fantastic news" was "only what Emelye Purser and the community as a whole deserve".

Mrs Purser will now approach Blandford Town Council and Blandford St Mary Parish Council to consider joint funding of a crossing patrol for schoolchildren while the crossing is built.

Local councillor Hilary Cox broke the news to Mrs Purser in a letter in which she says the crossing is "much needed".

Cllr Cox concludes her letter by saying: "We may have a very good chance of getting a crossing by summer 2010."

A spokesman for Dorset County Council said the position of the Bournemouth Road crossing request in a table of those made by communities across the county would be announced later this year.