A COUNCILLOR has been called to apologise after saying she had seen ‘children hit by a bus, bounce up and ask for a milkshake’.

Conservative Cllr Bobbie Dove was speaking at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board on February 26 about a report on the proposed 20mph speed limits in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole conurbation.

The report recommended that the council cabinet recommend to council that a dedicated budget is included to commence introducing 20mph speed limits ‘on a neighbourhood basis’.

This would focus on neighbourhood roads and ‘would create safer neighbourhoods and streets’.

Bournemouth Echo: Cllr Bobbie Dove has been called to apologise over her comments to a meeting of the Overview and

Cllr Dove, however, questioned the report and if there was a correlation between road safety and 20mph speed limits, while saying that she ‘believes passionately’ in making roads safer.

She said: “Cllr [Oliver] Walters was very emphatic that if a child was hit at 30mph they will die.

“They don’t, I’ve seen children being hit by a bus and they’ve bounced up and they’ve asked if they could have a milkshake, please.

“We have to be really careful in what this report is saying, why it is saying it and what is the question that we want answered.

“We want our roads safer, is it 20mph. Well, it absolutely isn’t.”

Her comments have been met with calls for her to apologise, with council leader Vikki Slade saying on social media: “This was outrageous and she needs to apologise.”

Green Party councillor Joe Salmon also called on Conservative group leader Cllr Phil Broadhead to ‘have a word’ with the councillor about her comments.

He said: “She is on another planet here and really needs to engage with the research on road safety if she wants to have an opinion.”

As reported, the council cabinet is set to discuss the proposals at a meeting in April.

It will then put forward its recommendations to full council.