A ROMSEY man is calling for urgent action after another large lorry struck a railway bridge outside his home.

Jeffery Williams quickly photographed the latest HGV to hit the bridge at the junction of Winchester Road and Botley Road just after 8am on Wednesday.

“I was sitting indoors when I heard this thump. The lorry hit it with some force,” he said.

“There appears to have been quite a bit of damage to the underside of the bridge, which presumably will have to be investigated by Network Rail. Trains were going gingerly across the bridge. Traffic, as you can image at that time of morning was in chaos. It took 15 minutes for the police to arrive and only one officer turned up.”

The lorry belonged to C & L Transport Ltd from Shepton Mallet in Somerset. It is understood the driver escaped injury.

British Transport Police have launched an investigation in to the incident.

Mr Williams added that the previous evening another lorry driver ran into difficulties when he approached the bridge which has a 14ft 6ins height restriction.

“A big lorry came down Botley Road suddenly realised he couldn’t got under the bridge. He then turned right into Winchester Road and headed towards the Sun Arch and had to reverse back to the junction because the lorry was too big to get under the Sun Arch. It caused a few problems,” said Mr Williams, who has lived in his house in Winchester Road for 30 years.

Mr Williams, a music examiner and former Romsey Abbey organist, believes the only way to stop further collisions is to introduce more restrictions at the bridge.

“They could start by banning high-sided vehicles,” said Mr Williams, who is worried about pubic safety as new housing in the area will bring more pedstrians.

The last time an HGV hit the metal and brick bridge was in April, when traffic mayhem ensued with queues on approach roads and delays to bus services in the area.

In that case the lorry owned by Wiltshire-based Rygor Group Services was badly damaged.