HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition in a bid to save Wareham railway station's pedestrian level crossing.

This petition, online and circulating around selected Wareham shops, has been established by Wareham Town Trust and is backed by Dorset County Council (DCC) member and Purbeck Transport Action Group chairman Cllr Beryl Ezzard.

"I am very concerned and disappointed that the solution to the pedestrian level crossing at Wareham station has not yet been solved," said Cllr Ezzard. "I believe that keeping the level pedestrian crossing is crucial for the town's economic and the community's well-being, especially those living in Carey, Northmoor and north of the town."

Currently the crossing, which effectively links Wareham town centre to Northmoor, is controlled by locking gates and a security guard.

These were introduced in 2010 after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) served County Hall and Network Rail with a notice ordering safety to be improved. At that time the crossing was identified as one of the most potentially dangerous in the country.

However, Network Rail says that even with the flashing lights, sounding alarms and attendants, near misses are still being reported by rail staff.

Last year, plans for a ramped pedestrian footbridge at the site of the station's existing stepped footbridge, just yards from the level crossing, were turned down by Purbeck District Council. (PDC)

Planning committee members argued the ramped footbridge was too large and would add too much time to pedestrian journeys.

Now Cllr Ezzard insists: "The common sense solution for the pedestrian foot crossing is, as most townspeople have pointed out, to have a barrier and lights system. Gates automatically close when lights change from green to amber before red, without the need for gate keepers."

But Network Rail has been actively closing hundreds of level crossings across Britain's railways over the past half decade, in response to a number of fatal accidents.

A spokesman for the state-owned company said: "We believed that the proposed footbridge offered the safest option for the community to cross the railway.

"Although the current safety measures at the crossing have helped to reduce the level of risk, the arrangement does not represent a long-term solution.

"Since September Network Rail has been working closely with Dorset County Council to establish all of our options as to how else risk could be reduced at this location, and we recently attended a meeting of their cabinet to explain our position and the council is currently considering options."