A dangerous road which divides Dorchester market is to be made safer following a public consultation.

Fairfield Road currently has car parking on either side, no pavement, and is badly lit.

It also frequently suffers from flooding at its junction with Weymouth Avenue, where people cross the main road to visit restaurants, shops and the cinema at Brewery Square.

Improvement works will include the creation of a pavement and this could be completed by summer.

Public views on the proposals are due to be collected by Dorset Council staff in the coming weeks with the views of the market operators and stallholders, market shoppers and the Brewery Square operators also being sought.

The news has been welcomed by Dorchester town and Dorset councillors – several also calling for improvements to the Upper Fairfield Road, which like the larger road, also has no pavements.

There has also been a plea to use the opportunity to make changes to the traffic flow around the upper and lower car park areas sandwiched between Weymouth Avenue and Maumbury Road, possibly re-opening sections of fencing to make routes in an out of the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

A request has also been made for planters and seating to be installed at the main market entrance to make the area more attractive and welcoming, and for a secure cycle storage area to encourage people out of their cars.

Councillors also made a plea for additional lighting throughout the car park, with Dorchester joint markets panel chair Cllr Molly Rennie claiming that many people using Brewery Square in the evenings are fearful of the poorly lit car area.

"People do say they feel unsafe going back to their cars at night," she said.

The committee heard that of three recently recorded injury accidents on the Fairfield Road-Weymouth Avenue junction, two were classed as serious.

Cllr Rennie said the current arrangements amounted to "an accident waiting to happen" because of the conflict between vehicles and pedestrians.

A highway officer has conceded that there were probably other accidents and near-misses, which had not been formally recorded over the years.

The road, although technically a part of the market rather than a highway, is a signed route between Dorchester's two rail stations and for other town centre locations.

Among the ideas being considered is to ban right turns out of the Fairfield Road onto Weymouth Avenue although this might lead to hundreds of extra cars a day on Great Western Road and Maumbury Road, as drivers try to make their way around the block to go south.