A SPEED limit on a stretch of main road in Ferndown is set to be reduced due to ongoing concerns about the number of crashes.

Dorset County Council is running a public consultation on its proposals for a 40mph section of Ringwood Road.

The speed limit on the A348 through Ferndown currently reduces to 30mph from a point near the junction with Manor Close until a point just after the entrance to Constable Close, where it returns to 40mph.

However, the county council wants to extend the 30mph limit until just after its junction with Angel Lane.

It launched the consultation on Friday, and interested parties have until March 1 to make any comments, either supporting or objecting the proposals.

A spokesperson for Dorset County Council said there was a "cluster of collisions" near a junction along the road.

"The section of the A348 Ringwood that is proposed to be reduced to 30mph limit meets with the criteria set out in Department for Transport guidance that the county council adopts as policy.

"There are pedestrian crossings and a signalised junction within the proposed extended 30mph speed limit, and it is used regularly by vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

"There is a cluster of collisions at the junction between Ringwood Road and Glenmoor Road, which although having improved in recent years after introducing small scale remedial measures, remains a concern and the proposed 30mph limit is aimed, in part, to mitigate the likelihood of collision at this junction."

“This consultation gives local people a chance to have their say on the proposed extension to the 30mph limit for Ringwood Road," the spokesperson added.

While the council considers extending the 30mph speed limit a priority, it did not have the same view with regards to a road near Corfe Mullen.

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

The request was considered at a meeting in November, but the county council said it was unlikely that a reduction in the speed limit would be high on its priority list.