TRUCK drivers are being warned of the dangers of driving under low railway bridges.

The advice follows an incident on the Hereford to Abergavenny road at Pontrilas yesterday, where a lorry crashed into a low railway bridge, causing the closure of A465.

Network Rail has released advice to drivers following reports of eight bridge strikes occurring over seven days across the country.

Since April 2017, Network Rail has reported 128 bridge strikes in the Border counties and Wales, causing 8,809 minutes of delays.

To combat bridge strikes, Network Rail has launched its Lorries Can't Limbo campaign, aimed at professional HGV drivers and drivers of high-sided vehicles.

Bethan Jelfs, Customer Services Director at Arriva Trains Wales said: “Bridge strikes can cause huge and unnecessary problems on the railway, causing real inconvenience to customers. We will continue to work closely with our partners in Network Rail to get up and running again as quickly as possible afterwards, and support their public campaigns to raise road users awareness so they can complete their own journeys as safely as possible.”

The campaign focuses on the education of drivers; engineering and signage; technology in HGV cabs and the enforcement of penalties.

Commenting on the Pontrilas bridge crash, an Arriva Trains Wales spokesman said: “Owing to a railway bridge between Hereford and Abergavenny being hit by a road vehicle at around 16:00 on Monday August 20, trains had to run over the bridge at a reduced speed of 20mph.

"This affected a number of services in the evening and we would like to thank all affected customers for their patience."

He added: “We worked quickly with our partners in Network Rail to minimise the disruption with services back to normal by 19:00.”