Melbury Abbas road closed following landslip

Dorset County Council said the landslip had displaced concrete barriers put in to stabilise the slopes

A Dorset road at risk of landslips has been closed following a fresh fall, police said.

Officers were called to the C13 at Dinah's Hollow, Melbury Abbas, at about 03:00 GMT.

A section of the road was shut between between the B3081 at Cann Common and Spread Eagle Hill, near Compton Abbas Airfield.

Dorset County Council said the collapse involved about 20-30 tonnes of earth and debris.

The authority said it would take up to three days to clear the fall, which has also displaced concrete barriers recently installed to stabilise the slopes.

The steep-sided banks along the road are at an angle of more than 60 degrees in places

A two-mile (3km) diversion, via the A350 Blandford to Shaftesbury road, is in place.

No-one is believed to have been hurt during the collapse, police said.

The road - which links Blandford to Shaftesbury - was shut in April 2014 because of fears its steep-sided banks, which are at an angle of more than 60 degrees in places, could collapse.

It reopened in July with traffic management measures put in place.

Long-term repairs to stabilise the banks are estimated to cost at least £4m.