PASSERS-BY were alarmed when a BBC outside broadcast truck brought down a shower of ancient masonry after becoming wedged in the Christchurch Gate at Canterbury Cathedral.

The truck driver had tried to pass through the 500-year-old stone archway but it was too tight a fit and the roof of the vehicle scraped along the archway causing considerable damage.

Pictures were captured by Norman Bennett, from Folkestone. He said: "I started to watch the lorry manoeuvring and thought the driver was never going to get through so I got my camera ready to take some pictures."

The vehicle was carrying equipment for the live broadcast of the Archbishop's enthronement .

Cathedral spokesman Chris Robinson said: "We think it will cost several hundred pounds to repair but it is something that our own stonemasons will probably do.

"The reason why it happened is not because of the height of the vehicle but because it came in at the wrong angle."