A petition has been launched calling on the government to return to Dorset some of the millions of pounds taken in tax on oil and natural gas from Poole Harbour.
Retired academic Mike Plummer from Poole says that to date over 515 million barrels of oil has been extracted through Wytch Farm and sold for more than £11.2 billion.
The Treasury receives 40 per cent tax on all profits made by oil companies.
Mike said the Shetland Islands have received £380 million from the government although the nearest oil field is 120 miles away.
By contrast Dorset had not received a penny but even a fraction of the money taken in tax could solve the financial problems faced by BCP Council.
He said: “I’m talking about Dorset oil coming from Dorset soil.
“It’s high time that Dorset people receive some financial benefit for the oil and gas that’s been extracted since 1979 from the Purbecks.
“Rather than levelling up north, why don’t they start levelling up down the south in Dorset?”
Mike, pictured, said he hoped to get up to 20,000 people to sign his petition.
He would then organise a march up to London and demand a meeting with Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The petition can be found here.
