Two wheelchair accessible benches have been installed on the west Dorset coast, thanks to a father’s campaign for equal access.

Neil Barnes, a local photographer who is the main carer for his daughter Lucy, would is profoundly disabled, has campaigned for wheelchair access to the beach at Burton Bradstock for a few years.

He is very passionate about making sure she has the same access to the coastline as able-bodied people and started exploring possible ways to make this a reality.

“A while back I started a campaign to improve wheelchair access to our beaches, initially at Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock,” he said.

“Firstly, I considered some sort of interlocking mat system that would allow wheelchair users on to the beach, but unfortunately this very quickly became quite obviously unsuitable, mostly because of the constant change of the beach surface - the sea is very adept at changing our beach structures, even in summertime.”

However, Neil persisted and came up with another idea to give those in wheelchairs some access to enjoy the coastline.

He added: “After much deliberation I decided upon adding a feature currently missing - wheelchair accessible benches.

“With the help of the National Trust, two of these picnic benches have now been installed at Hive Beach, with two more planned for West Bay in the next few weeks.

“I want to say a huge thank you to those of you that contributed to the fund and in particular Jane Elliott from Warren House in Chideock who very kindly organised fundraising events for the cause and to the National Trust for the installation.

“I’m looking forward to some warmer weather to enjoy a picnic with my daughter and hopefully lots of other wheelchair users and their families will be doing the same.”

A spokesman for the National Trust said: "We would like to thank Neil for raising the funds to have the benches installed.

"We are constantly working to improve accessibility at the sites we look after and we are certain that these seats will be much loved.

"As a conservation charity we rely upon support like this to maintain the places in our care."