CALLS for the speed limit on a road near Corfe Mullen to be halved will be considered by Dorset County Council next week.

Dozens of residents have backed a petition calling for the maximum speed allowed on Blandford Road between the village and the A31 to be lowered to 30mph.

Horse rider Hannah Yelland led the petition and has collected 63 signatures – enough for it to be considered by the council’s petitions panel.

Submitting her petition, Ms Yelland said: “I don’t want to be killed on this road.

“I wear as much hi-vis as I can, I respect other road users and use the appropriate signals.

“When asking cars to slow down some road users are very respectful and slow down while others carry on the road like it’s a race track.

“The amount of near-misses I’ve had is scary.

“Us horse riders don’t want to be on the road as much as people don’t want us on the road but we have to do road work to get to the few bridleways we have.”

The request to reduce the limit to 30mph has also been backed by Corfe Mullen Parish Council and will be considered by members of the petitions panel on Tuesday.

Speed surveys carried out by the county council in 2016 found that the average speed of motorists on the road was just over 38mph westbound and 35.5mph eastbound with about 2,500 vehicles a day travelling on the B3074.

However, despite residents’ concerns, a report to the panel says that it is unlikely that a reduction in the speed limit would be high on its priority list.

It says: “The aim for local speed limits should be to align the speed limit to the conditions of the road and road environment.

“The results of the traffic survey and Department for Transport guidance would suggest that a 40mph limit could be considered for the section of the B3074 in question.”

It adds: “It is not likely that a speed limit reduction on this section of the B3074 would rank highly compared to other priorities and therefore no commitment can be made on when a speed limit reduction would be processed.”

The process of changing the speed limit on the road, if agreed by members of the panel, would cost about £3,500, the council has estimated.