A POOLE resident fears he will break the law every time he leaves home if a pedestrian crossing is sited nearby.

Tas Read lives at Blandford Road, Hamworthy close to the Upton border, where Borough of Poole plans to put in a new zebra crossing, north of the shops at the Sandy Lane junction.

And the motorcycle instructor and advanced driver fears he will be risking three points on his licence and a £60 fine each time he has to stop and wait to get in or out of his drive.

“Although the crossing is outside a house two doors down the zig zag white lines go for 18 metres in each direction,” he said. “That covers our driveway.”

He said the Highway Code rules had recently changed and it was illegal to stop on zig zag lines. This is now enforceable by local authorities which can issue fines, but not penalty points.

Mr Read, 38, who also works as a plumber said: “What the council has done is made it illegal to drive in and out of my driveway. To get in and out you have to stop on the road.”

He questioned the need for a £15,000 pedestrian crossing at that spot on the busy major route and said it would be better sited further up where it was not obstructing anyone. “There are better places to put it,” he said.

But Steve Dean, senior traffic engineer, Borough of Poole said: “There have been long-standing requests for a crossing at this location.

“When we surveyed the site we could clearly see that there was a need for a safe crossing on this busy road.”

He said the council would not issue a penalty charge notice to someone manoeuvring in or out of an access and the report that went before the area committee said similar arrangements worked well in other residential roads.