A DRIVER lacking in “patience and wisdom” forced open an emergency access gate to escape heavy traffic on the Spur Road.

Dorset Police’s Traffic Unit were tasked yesterday afternoon (Wednesday April 13) to the A338 near Christchurch after a driver, apparently frustrated by long queues, forced open and damaged an emergency access gate.

In a social media post, a Dorset Traffic Cops spokesperson said: “No it wasn’t a collision, breakdown or dangerous driver – someone in their lack of patience and wisdom had forced open a clearly marked emergency access gate leaving it in this state.

“Doing this not only exposed them and anyone using the access to risk – the track away from this gate isn’t a fully made road and has little visibility of the high-speed road it exits onto – but they also dislodged the gate which now won’t close effectively, costing more police and Dorset Council time.

“Queues are frustrating but there’s no excuse for this selfish behaviour which wastes time and, in an emergency, would prevent blue light services from accessing an incident.”

There were long delays on the A338 and A31 on Wednesday following a crash between a car and lorry.