Chideock villagers reignite A35 bypass campaign

People living on the A35 at Chideock have complained about traffic levels

A fresh campaign has been launched to build a bypass for a Dorset village blighted by heavy traffic.

Plans to re-route the A35 around Chideock were approved in the early 1990s but the scheme was shelved when the government withdrew funding.

Villagers are resurrecting their bid to get the project included in Highways England's funding plans for 2020 to 2025.

But some fear the loss of passing trade could "kill the village".

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Campaigners claim 80% of villagers back the proposal.

Resident Tony Peacock, an adviser on the 1990s scheme, said: "A bypass has been promised since 1826. One was stopped in 1914 before the First World War, one was stopped before the Second World War so it's been a disaster for this village and something really should have been done in the '50s."

B&B owner Ann Dunn, who belongs to the Chideock Bypass campaign group, said: "This is my third campaign but if we don't get it this time, in another couple of years we'll be doing it again."

However, Sue Legg, who works in the village shop, said: "It will kill the village. They won't have a shop, they won't have a post office, they'll only have one pub to go to so they'll have to travel to Bridport every time they want something. It's not a good idea, I don't think."

Some of Chideock's buildings date back to the 16th Century while the trunk road is one of the longest in the region, used by people travelling between Exeter in Devon and the M27 in Hampshire.

In 2010, residents staged protests by repeatedly activating a pelican crossing, causing traffic to back up within minutes.

Villagers previously called for lorries to be banned from the route to cut pollution.