A council has caught flak after painting a tiny zebra crossing across a hated £17million cycle lane that residents warn will cause confusion and accidents.

The bizarre road markings are only one or two stripes across the controversial, expensive cycle path lead to a floating bus stop.

Cyclists must stop when they see someone waiting to cross 3ft wide bike path on Ringwood Road in Poole near Bournemouth, Dorset.

But critics fear the new layout, which has been compared to a child's play mat, will cause confusion and accidents.

There are several mini crossings along the busy road where the new cycle lane is up to 11ft wide and bigger than the often 10ft wide carriageway used by motorists.

The work on a two-mile stretch along Ringwood Road is all part of a £120m project to lay almost 50 miles of new cycle lanes in south east Dorset.

The 'Transforming Travel' programme in residential areas of Bournemouth, Poole, Ferndown and Wimborne, is aimed at encouraging more people to cycle and scoot to places.

But opponents claim it is part of BCP Council's 'war on motorists' in the area and say the cycle paths are barely used and a waste of money.

Justin Midgley, from protest group BCP and Dorset Motorists, who have 6,500 members, said: 'I think these crossings will spark confusion among the general public who will think who on earth has priority now.

'The mechanics of it are strange as you are crossing an active cycle lane to get to a floating bus stop which is still in the cycle lane.

'I believe these bus stops have been under investigation in the London area for safety reasons.

'The whole layout along the road is jazzy and confusing visually.

'I don't think one stripe of white implies a pedestrian crossing and there is no signage for who has priority.

'Pedestrians will probably ignore the crossing anyway and cross where they like.'

One local resident said: 'Do the council seriously think that so many cyclists will use these cycle lanes that pedestrians must have a dedicated crossing to safely walk 3ft across them?'

The new crossings have also sparked uproar on social media, with locals branding them a 'waste of money'.

Joan Dane said: 'This looks like my 2-year-old grandson's car play mat!'

Tina Stevens said: 'Have I woken up in a parallel BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole). a crossing within a crossing on the cycle path, presumably for pedestrians to stop while the cyclists are passing.'

David Sanders said: 'Who would even realise that that was meant to be a pedestrian crossing? A lawyer's field day once people start getting injured, maimed and killed.'

Others said the council would be better served by spending the money on tackling potholes.

Peter Raymont said: 'It's amazing how senseless projects can take priority over maintaining flat roads with proper surfaces totally free from surface degradation such as open potholes.'

Justin Morris added: 'At some point I'm going to stop paying my council tax!! Paying for all this nonsense is b***** stupid.'

Motorists have previously listed a number of concerns with the cycle lane which they claim is barely used and makes their journeys more hazardous.

Pavement corners at junctions have been extended which means cars emerging from side roads have to turn almost at right angles and often swing out into the opposite carriageway.

The narrower carriageway means there is hardly any room for motorbikes to overtake and filter in, while lorry drivers have to fold their wing mirrors in to avoid the risk of clipping oncoming traffic.

There is also less room for emergency vehicles to squeeze through.

Questions have also been raised about the quality of materials used for the cycle lane after a 13-year-old girl suffered serious cuts to her face when the wheel of her scooter caught on loose chippings and she fell off.

BCP Council has been under fire for their controversial cycle rules and road markings several times in recent years.

Locals slammed another 'confusing' measure in 2024 when the council painted white cycle road markings in the middle of residential roads, baffling motorists who were worried they had lost priority on the roads to cyclists.

One resident on Windham Road, where the symbols suddenly appeared, said: 'There are no cycle lanes on this road.

'These signs are very confusing and all they are going to do is bring conflict between motorists and cyclists.

'They look like they are telling road users that this road is a cycle route and cyclists have priority.

'It also looks like they are encouraging cyclists to use the whole road.'

The Council defended the measure at the time, saying that they were 'wayfinding markers' for cyclists and 'in line with national guidelines'.

Gloucestershire Council also chimed in, saying the signs were 'to highlight the likely position of cyclists in the carriageway'. 

In 2022, BCP Council were in the news again for confusing drivers for the sake of cyclists when they told cyclists to use the whole main road rather than a dedicated 7ft wide bike lane down the busy A35 in Bournemouth.

Local Donna Clarke slammed the idea at the time as 'utterly ridiculous, causing tailbacks, delayed emergency vehicles and frayed tempers.'

The Council defended the measures again in the name of safety and to encourage 'sustainable travel'.

Now, BCP Council have taken up their defence of new cycle lane and its strange zebra crossing in Poole, saying it was designed to 'ensure the safety of pedestrians' and not to please motorists.

A BCP Council spokesperson told the Daily Mail: 'These markings are to ensure the safety of pedestrians crossing the cycle lanes to access bus stops on Ringwood Road.

'The same markings were previously painted near the Mountbatten Arms roundabout on Ringwood Road to improve pedestrian access to a bus stop and can also be found on the recent scheme delivered at Glenferness Avenue in Bournemouth.

'The Ringwood Road improvements are part of a scheme funded by central government and includes 4.5 km of new road resurfacing to make journeys along this road smoother and safer for those in cars and on motorbikes.'