THIS was the scene in Broadoak on Saturday morning after a second lorry in four months became wed­ged under the bridge.

Christmas shoppers heading towards Glou­cester, along the A48 from Lydney, were diverted after police shut the road at Elton Corner for eight hours. It reopened at 12 noon.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesperson said: “The lorry driver was not injured, however the lorry lost half of its load of tinned food. The police control room contacted Network Rail to explain that a railway bridge had been struck.

“The road was blocked from time of impact until just before 4.55am and then a full closure was implemented at Elton Corner. Highways put in place a diversion.

“The articulated lorry is registered to Bridgend in South Wales.”

In August a lorry peeled off its roof and lost part of its load as it attempted to go underneath Broadoak bridge.

At the time there were calls for radical steps to make the bridges in both Westbury-on-Severn and Broadoak safer as they have long been regarded as accident blackspots.

Chairman of Westbury Parish Council, Mr Colin Evers said: “Since the incident in August there haven’t been any developments by way of finding a solution to the problem – but there have been people getting into accidents or near-misses.

“At the end of the day the two bridges aren’t fit for purpose for today’s heavy volume of traffic. Measures do need to be put in place sooner rather than later and the parish council are in ongoing dialogue with the local highways to address the issue.”