A food distribution lorry struck a railway bridge in Ashford - blocking a road outside the Designer Outlet.

Stagecoach said passengers faced severe delays following the incident in Newtown Road.

The lorry belongs to Brakes food company which is based on Eureka Business Park.

The G line bus service, which runs from Godinton Park to South Willesborough via the town centre, had to use a diversion this morning but has now returned to its normal route.

A spokesman from Network Rail said: "At 8am one of our colleagues spotted that a lorry had become wedged under Newtown railway bridge just outside the old railway works in Ashford.

"We slowed trains over the bridge to 5mph until a bridge inspector was able to reach site and examine the structure for damage.

"Once the lorry was removed and the bridge was found to be safe, we returned trains to their normal speeds on the line (to Hastings) just before 11am.

"Although there was no damage, passengers were still delayed and our teams had to take time out to deal with the incident.

"We urge van and lorry drivers to keep checking the heights of their vehicles and take care when driving under low bridges.

"We do seek to recover costs from incidents such as this and last year we saw well over 1,600 bridge strikes across the country."

It is not the first time the bridge has been hit.

The most recent incident in 2019 left a truck badly damaged.