An elderly Dorset man has held a unique protest against the traffic running through his village.
The plucky pensioner, angry at the amount of lorries which drive through his small village, gathered together a group of his neighbours to repeatedly use a pedestrian crossing to stop the traffic.
According to the BBC, Tony Fuller, 77, carried out the protest in Chideock on Tuesday on the A35. The protest caused a four mile tailback of traffic after he and his fellow residents used the the crossing repeatedly for an hour.
Mr Fuller believes that the village is too narrow for the lorries and wants a bypass built as an alternative route for large good vehicles.
He told the reporters that his house had been crashed into by vehicles twice and on one occasion the driver died.
He told the broadcaster: "It’s virtually like a motorway, in fact it’s got as much traffic on it as a motorway but there’s no pavements and the houses are right on the road.
"The pollution in the village is terrible. You can’t walk through the village without choking."
Demanding that plans for a bypass should be implemented, he added: "We only want them [Dorset county council] to show they are doing something and when they do we will stop, but if they don’t we shall continue, now, year after year."
Mr Fuller said about 50 residents have already pledged to support the protest.
He added: "If they all turn up and they each press that button once, one after the other, that’s 50 times that traffic will be stopped and it will cause chaos.
"Because they’ve only gone across once each, they can’t be prosecuted for using the crossing that was put there for their benefit."
It is not yet known whether the Mr Fuller and his neighbours will be charged for obstructing the highway. The Highways Agency, which is responsible for the A35, has not commented on the incident.
What do you think? Should heavy goods vehicles be allowed to pass through such small rural villages. Should the village be granted a bypass? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
