Lorry strikes railway bridge

Traffic has been disrupted after a lorry struck the railway bridge outside Hertford North station this morning.

Posting on social media, Herts Police said: "We are currently at the scene of a collision in North Road, Hertford. The road has been closed to allow emergency services access, and is expected to remain closed for some time. Please avoid the area where possible."

Train operator Great Northen also posted in Twitter, saying: "A lorry has collided with a bridge at Hertford North. Trains will be running at a slower speed than usual through the area. This means your journey may be delayed by around 10-15 minutes. You can still use your normal route, but please allow for some extra time. Response teams and the emergency services are on site dealing with this incident. Until the bridge has had a full safety check, trains will need to run at a slower speed."

The white 2019-registered Scania collided with the bridge shortly before 9am. The road was closed to traffic for much of the day as contractors recovered the vehicle and railway engineers inspected the bridge.

A number of lorries have fallen foul of the bridge, with collisions in March 2020 and July 2019.

In October 2016 one person was injured when a lorry carrying skips hit the bridge.