VIDEO - Ancaster resident fears some collisions with railway bridge are going unreported

The collision was reported at 8.15am this morming (Thursday) when a member of the public alerted a signaller that the rail bridge over Ermine Street, near Ancaster rail station, had been hit by a lorry, according to a Network Rail spokesman.

He said: “The signaller stopped the line straight away and we got someone out to look at the bridge at 8.25am. They found no lorry on site and checked the bridge out and it was fine and normal working was resumed at 9.05am.”

East Midlands Trains services had been temporarily halted at Sleaford and Grantham until given the all-clear.

They apologised for any inconvenience to passengers.

An East Midlands Trains spokesman said: “Currently we are expecting the line to fully reopen in the next hour. Our normal train service is expected to resume on the affected route at around 10am.”

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said officers attended the scene as well and after initial examination the incident did not appear to be as serious as first thought. The lorry was movable and the bridge did not appear to be damaged and there was no other disruption to traffic.

But Lynsey Draycott, who has lived near the bridge for just over a year says it is a more frequent occurrence than some might think. Ms Draycott also videoed the ensuing chaos this morning.

She told The Standard: “It caused a right jam this morning while he tried to become unwedged from the bridge and then tried to turn round with traffic blocked in both directions.

“In just over a year I’ve lived here I have seen or heard at least 14 vehicles strike the bridge, some becoming very wedged, so that they had to lower their lorry down to get out.

“As far as I’m aware not many have been reported to Network Rail to check the bridge is safe. There could be many more that have happened when I’ve not been at home.

“If the bridge collapsed it could be catastrophic. I often hear lorries turning around in the middle of the night when they realise they won’t fit through, despite plenty of warning signs before the bridge.”

Ms Draycott said: “I’ve lost count of how many times the bloke across the road has had to do his stopping the traffic and guiding the lorry reversing into Charlestown. One day the bridge will be severely damaged from all these lorries getting wedged under it and that would be a possible catastrophic incident if it collapsed.”