DRIVERS speeding near a school are only slowing for parked cars.

That’s the fear of Blandford town councillors who have renewed calls for a 20mph speed limit outside Archbishop Wake Primary on Black Lane.

At a meeting on Monday they questioned Black Lane’s omission from a new list of double yellow line zones introduced by County Hall parking chiefs for the town.

Cllr Bob Brannigan said introducing waiting restrictions to clear parked cars near the school could have an unwanted side effect.

“If you put ‘no waiting’ there you will allow vehicles to flow more quickly. As much as the vehicles are a pain, they do slow the traffic down.

“It’s self-regulating at the moment, but I wouldn’t call it safe,” he said.

Cllr Brannigan’s concerns were echoed by PSCO Jamie Burt, who said he had worked for the last two years to solve “chaotic” scenes outside the school, including creating temporary chicanes using parked cars and traffic cones.

“It can be chaotic down there. You get cars coming out around parked cars and then there’s a gridlock situation in which the lollipop lady is trying to guide the children. It’s terrible.

“It baffles me why people keep objecting to waiting restrictions,” he said.

The school’s previous head teacher, Richard Chapman, told the Daily Echo in July 2009 that the school needed a 20mph speed limit “at least”.

More than a year later, the school is still waiting.

Blandford’s county councillor, Barrie Cooper, said speeding was only part of the problem faced by staff and pupils.

Residents in nearby Bayfran Way and Downside Close have objected to waiting restrictions on Black Lane, he said.

The county council’s roads and rights of way committee will rule on proposals in November.