Safer road call after mum-of-three killed in crash

Action should be taken to make a road safer after four people died on the same stretch in just over four years, a coroner said.

Dorset's senior coroner Rachael Griffin sent concerns to Dorset Council following the death of Charlotte Avis, 30, who was killed on the A30 between Yeovil and Sherborne on 1 December 2022.

Ms Avis, from Milborne Port, was driving her Ford Focus towards Sherborne at the crossroads with Marl Lane when it was hit head-on by another car.

Sylwester Mielczarek, from Yeovil, admitted causing her death by careless driving and was given a 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Salisbury Crown Court in February.

After her death, Ms Avis' family described her as a "hard-working mum" and said she "lived her life by her three children".

"Everything she did, she did for them," the family said in a statement.

Mrs Griffin said there were eight crashes at the site of Ms Avis' death since the start of 2014 until March.

Other fatal crashes were reported there in January 2020, December 2022 and February 2024.

The speed limit on the road was cut from 70mph (112km/h) to 60mph (96km/h) by Dorset Council in October 2024.

But Mrs Griffin said she still had "concerns around the layout of the road and the number of collisions in the area and that there could be future deaths".

Dorset Council and transport secretary Heidi Alexander must respond to Mrs Griffin's concerns by the start of July.

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.