TRAIN lines in and out of Middlesbrough station were blocked after a lorry became wedged under a railway bridge.

The lorry, operated by haulage company Ward Bros, hit Albert Bridge while the driver was attempting to pass underneath shortly after 4pm on Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses described hearing a loud bang and while the cab and driver escaped unscathed, the trailer buckled with the impact.
As a safety precaution rush-hour trains were halted until an engineer from Network Rail could be called upon to inspect any damage to the bridge.

One rail passenger told The Northern Echo: "My train to Bishop Auckland was changed to another platform, trains to Saltburn have been cancelled and the train to Hexham via Hartlepool is delayed."

Police were on the scene quickly and the lorry was removed about three quarters of an hour later.

Train operator Northern tweeted at 5.43pm that all lines were open again following the crash.

Services were subject to delay for the next hour and-a-half.

The Victorian era-built bridge has been hit by vehicles several times before with the last incident occurring only in April this year.