THE first man on the scene of a fatal accident has described the A35 as the ‘road of death’.

Keith Baldwin was on his way home to Kingston Russell with his family when he came across the scene by the Woodlands Farm Kennels on Monday.

He said the scene was ‘absolutely horrific’.

Mr Baldwin has called for a speed limit cut to reduce the amount of crashes.

He said: “If more people saw the aftermath of accidents they would slow down.”

One man died and another was seriously injured after the crash involving three vans.

Police said the 49-year-old driver of a white Iveco van died at the scene outside Woodlands Farm near Uploders about 6pm.

The dead man, from Cleveland, had been driving an Express Blinds van.

Another man, a 32-year-old from Bournemouth driving a white Ford Transit van signwritten Drain Doctor, suffered serious but not life threatening injuries.

He was cut free from his cab by firefighters before being airlifted from the scene by the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and taken to Southampton Hospital.

A third man, a 48-year-old from the Wareham area driving a silver Volkswagen Transporter, suffered minor injuries and received hospital treatment.

The collision happened past the dual carriageway stretch by the old Travellers Rest, two miles east of Bridport.

Mr Baldwin said: “There were two people trapped in the vans.

“I ran up to see if there way anything I could do. It was an horrific scene and it was obvious there wasn’t anything anyone could do to help, they were way beyond basic first aid.

“There were tools and ladders strewn over the road that had come flying out of the back of the drain cleaner’s van.”

He added: “That road is just crazy, the craziest road I have ever lived on.

“We live right on the road and the amount of accidents that we see is absolutely crazy.

“A lot of it is down to speed.

“The nature of the road is that people think it is a fast road and realistically it is not a fast road.

“I think it should be a 50mph speed limit, maybe a reduced speed would help. If more of the general public saw the scene I did, perhaps that would make them think twice.

“It is a road of death.”

Stephanie Prickett lives at Hillview Caravan Park, formerly the Travellers Rest.

She said: “We all take our lives into our hands turning into the kennels and our house.

“One of the problems here is that people start overtaking before the dual carriageway. We hear it all the time living here, horns tooting because someone has cut someone up. We have been here for five years and it is sheer luck that nothing like this has happened here in that time.

“We have watched so many near accidents and we do worry about it. There are enough road signs to tell people to slow down.

“We have had one young girl crash into our house.”

Alan Bull from Woodlands Farm Kennels said: “There have been a lot of accidents in the 23 years we have been here.

“I think the whole section is a dodgy road but a lot is because people go too fast.

It is like a racetrack.”

There was major traffic disruption as the A35 between Bridport and the Monkeys Jump roundabout in Dorchester was closed overnight. The road was reopened at just after 5am on Tuesday.

Witnesses to the collision or the manner of driving of any of the vehicles prior to the tragedy should contact PC Rhys Griffiths of the traffic police at Weymouth on 101.