Abnormal loads: Other information

Restrictions

Restrictions on movements of abnormal and indivisible loads (AILs) within certain time periods and specific parts of the network are detailed below:

Bank holidays

Holiday	Date from	Time	Date to	Time
Christmas	24 December 2025	3pm	29 December 2025	8am
New Year 2025/26	31 December 2025	3pm	2 January 2026	8am
Easter	2 April 2026	3pm	7 April 2026	8am
May Day	1 May 2026	4pm	5 May 2026	8am
Whitsun	22 May 2026	4pm	26 May 2026	8am
Late Summer	28 August 2026	4pm	1 September 2026	8am
Christmas	24 December 2026	3pm	29 December 2026	8am
New Year 2026/27	31 December 2026	3pm	4 January 2027	8am

Major events

Camp Bestival – Lulworth Castle, East Lulworth (A352, B3070 and B3071) 

Event date	Date from	Time	Date to	Time
29 July to 3 August 2026	29 July 2026	4pm	3 August 2026	8am

Summer Period

Fridays 5pm until Monday’s first light

All weekends from 19 June to 7 September 5pm to 8am

Day time movements and peak traffic times

In general, abnormal and indivisible loads (AILs) shall only be moved during daylight hours from sunrise to sunset Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but are prohibited during peak traffic times where there is a requirement for an escort:

Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 9am and 4pm to 6:30pm

Night time movements

There has been a strictly no night time movement policy in place within the Dorset Police area since 2008.

Arterial route width restrictions

Arterial route	Restriction
A3052 Lyme Regis	No AILs through Lyme Regis town due to tight conditions and road layout.
A31 Canford Bottom to Bere Regis	Loads over 4.45 metres will require a police escort due to the narrow road, lack of passing places and the need to stop and control traffic to allow the load to pass through.
A35 Axminster to West Bay	Loads over 4.45 metres will require a police escort due to the narrow road, lack of passing places and the need to stop and control traffic to allow the load to pass through.
A35 Poole	No AILs between the Civic Centre and Towngate Bridge.
A350 Upton to A31	No AILs between A35 Upton and A31 except for access due to limited passing spaces, roadside deterioration and overhanging vegetation.
A350 Blandford to Shaftesbury	No AILs due to a narrow road and road layout not suitable for abnormal loads.
A352 Warmwell to Dorchester	3.5 metres width restriction due to narrow roads through small villages and lack of passing places. Loads over 3.5 metres can be moved but only with Police Escort.
A354 to top of Portland	Max width 6.25 metres. Any AILs to the top of Portland over 3.9 metres or 80 tonnes require a police escort.
A354 down from top of Portland	Over 4.5 metres wide will require a police escort through the Fortuneswell one-way system. Movements less than 4.5 metres wide are able to use High Street.

Dispensations

A dispensation is a permission for an abnormal load to travel without having to notify us each time.

Please use our dispensation enquiry form to ask about our dispensations.

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