LAST week yielded some very positive developments with the Heart of Wessex Line from Yeovil Pen Mill to Dorchester West. Network Rail and Great Western Railway had closed the line for several weeks, with the work being carried out allowing for new sections of track bed to be laid along the route. This will greatly improve the overall journey time and efficiency of this vital stretch of railway.

At the same time, Yetminster railway station has been fully refurbished following a meeting with GWR a few months ago. Earlier this summer, I made clear the risk that the deteriorating and subsiding platform surface posed for disabled rail users and mums with prams especially. I was therefore very pleased to visit the site last week and see the new platform surface and markings completed along with a full refurbishment ahead of the Heart of Wessex Line’s reopening.

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This Tuesday, I met the Prime Minister with a number of local sheep farmers to mark the first time in over 20 years that British Lamb has been exported to the United States. This is a strong diplomatic win and a fantastic step forward for the British lamb industry.

Fuel prices are I know affecting so many here in West Dorset – being a very rural area, there is a high dependency on driving for people here. This is why it seems even more discriminatory to me that some local fuel suppliers, in particular, Morrisons in Bridport, have been charging around 20 pence per litre more in their Bridport station than other neighbouring stations. This is plain wrong. I have been leading the charge against Morrisons in particular on this. Already, we have seen prices begin to fall and a gradual equalisation of prices. But there remains a pushback to be had against them, and Morrisons must realise the need for fairness in their pricing policy.

CHRIS LODER

WEST DORSET MP