A LORRY became wedged under a "wrongly marked" railway bridge yesterday - only three weeks after The Northern Echo raised concerns about its safety.

The East Coast mainline was closed while the flat-back HGV was removed..

Services from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross were hit by delays while safety experts checked the bridge, in Albert Hill, Darlington, was secure.

On June 4, The Northern Echo reported that warning reflectors on the bridge had been placed too high by workmen - a foot higher than the underside of the bridge in Cleveland Street.

Durham Police said last night: "There was no obvious damage, no one was injured and the vehicle was removed quite quickly, but trains were halted to allow a check of the bridge."

John Singh, proprietor of Abbacabs in Darlington, said his drivers said the bridge was a potential death trap.

"If I had anything to say to Railtrack, or whoever is responsible, it would be I told you so," he said.

"We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. If nothing is done to move the reflectors lower down, then I can see a more serious accident happening."

Three weeks ago, Railtrack denied responsibility for the reflectors and said Darlington Borough Council was responsible for mounting them.

But a spokesman for the council said the bridge belonged to Railtrack.

He said: "We didn't put the chevrons on it. We know 100 per cent that we didn't put them on.

"However, we do have warning signs leading up to the bridge with the height restrictions on. We will be having a chat with Railtrack."

A Railtrack spokeswoman said: "We know that the council has a sign on the approach to the bridge warning of the height restriction. It is very difficult for us to manage people ignoring signs."

* Services on the busy West Coast mainline suffered severe delays yesterday after power cables in Hertfordshire were damaged.