A PLEA is being made for motorists to slow down on approach to a roundabout where a resident claims to have seen a number of crashes and more than '100 near misses'.

Stella Brading lives next to the roundabout at the junction between Avalanche Road and Reap Lane on Portland.

The roundabout is painted on the road without any traffic barriers.

Police visited the site this week, and issued a warning for motorists to observe the speed limit.

Mrs Brading has lived in the area for six years and in that time she says she has seen several crashes and more than 100 near misses. She said she has even seen someone lose control at the roundabout, go on the pavement and narrowly miss a pedestrian. Recently she witnessed a car overtake another vehicle at the site.

She said: "We have seen well over 100 frighteningly near misses and just recently had two nasty crashes, luckily with no serious injuries yet."

Mrs Brading, 52, said her daughter recently had a near miss on the roundabout: "My daughter was turning into Reap Lane early to come to work with her 16-month-old toddler in the back and again was just missed by a car coming from Avalanche Road which didn't slow down.

"Luckily she was going slowly as we are all so cautious knowing how many drivers are just not taking care on this roundabout, and she narrowly avoided a collision by emergency braking.

"We all know these roundabouts and I have complained to the council and the police, and will reiterate to the council again about the safety aspect of this one in particular, especially as there is a school crossing here too."

Mrs Brading says the road was safer when it was a t-junction and has called for there to be some form of traffic calming measures in place like speed bumps or rumble tracks.

She added: "The main problems are that people aren't indicating, they are driving too fast and they don't seem to understand who to give way to. It's quite frightening really."

DORSET Council has said it will monitor the road but that it was not viewed as a priority site for road safety.

Michael Potter, Dorset Council’s road safety team manager, said: “There are no records of injury collisions at this roundabout for the latest available five years (August 2014 to July 2019). So, the site is not viewed as a priority, however, we will liaise with the community highways team to monitor the situation and assess whether any remedial measures are required.

“The concerns raised may be linked to the choices people are making when using this mini roundabout. We all have a vital role to play in improving road safety, be it as a passenger, driver, on foot, bicycle or horseback. Our choices and behaviour while using the public highway have the greatest influence on the safety of ourselves and that of others.”

A Weymouth and Portland Police spokesman said: "After two recent traffic collisions at the junction of Avalanche Road and Reap Lane on Portland, we ask that motorists take care and observe the speed limit when approaching the roundabout from all three directions."