by Anna White

awhite@thekmgroup.co.uk

Commuters faced delays this morning after a lorry hit a railway bridge.

The lorry struck a bridge in Seven Mile Lane, between Wrotham Heath and West Malling, at 7am, causing disruption to the Southeastern Railway service between Ashford International and London Victoria.

The route was closed while Network Rail inspectors examined the damage.

It was declared safe at 7.45am but delays were up to 50 minutes.

This is the second time in a week that a lorry has hit the railway bridge.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “There is signage on the bridge advising motorists of its height and HGV drivers are supposed to have the size of their vehicle clearly displayed in their cab so they can avoid this sort of incident.

"Drivers of large vehicles really do need to take care when passing beneath railway bridges to prevent unnecessary disruption for rail passengers and motorists.”

A spokesman for Southeastern said: "As far as we are aware, there is no immediate problem with lorries passing through railway bridges in this area, but every incident is investigated and if we found that the issue is becoming more frequent then it is something we would discuss with Kent Highways."