Highway robbery

[Martin Cassini]

89-year-old partially-sighted Chideock resident, Nancy Underwood, has to make four bus journeys to cross the road from her house to the post office. First she has to get the bus to Bridport, 3 miles east, where she uses a zebra to cross, and wait for the bus back. Her way back across the A35 means a bus ride to Charmouth four miles west, where she can cross, then a fourth bus back to Chideock. Her daughter, Kathy Scott, says she can wait 20 minutes for a gap in the traffic. The heavily-funded Highways Agency's excuse for not taking action? A dispute over compulsory purchase of land. Since when did they need to buy land on a main road to organise a crossing? Apparently work on a crossing "will start later this year".