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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Sophie Halle-Richards

Lorry driver in bizarre stand-off with bridge after being spurred on by fellow motorists

This is the agonising moment a lorry driver completely misjudged a railway bridge after being spurred on by fellow motorists in Wigan.

Footage sent to the M.E.N, shows the driver attempting to take on the narrow stretch of road with a sign clearly labelled 'low bridge' above it on Prescott Street in the town centre.

The lorry appears to drive towards the bridge before coming to a halt as its roof nearly connects with the brickwork. The bemused driver can then be seen getting out of his cab to inspect his work.

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Two men sitting in a vehicle a short distance behind could be heard shouting: "Mate you've got about six foot, you'll easily get under there." They continue to shout 'easy, easy, easy' before laughing to themselves.

Appearing to take their advice seriously, the driver can then be seen getting back into the lorry, before attempting to drive the vehicle under the bridge - which is clearly not possible.

It's not clear what happened next, but it's presumed the driver of the lorry realised it wasn't going to be achievable, and made the sensible decision to turn the vehicle round.

A van got stuck under the same bridge in 2019 (Kimberley Harris)

He isn't the first and probably won't be the last driver of a heavy goods vehicle to attempt to tackle the bridge - and fail. In 2019, rail bosses expressed their anger after a van got stuck got stuck under the same bridge.

The vehicle became wedged under the clearly marked 'Low bridge' on Prescott Street. It briefly brought traffic in the area to a standstill as passage under the bridge is single lane only with traffic lights either side.

Network Rail have previously hit out saying incident like this are hugely disruptive and "completely avoidable." The Manchester Piccadilly branch of the organisation which manage the network said on Twitter: "Drivers - please KNOW the height of your vehicles. Don’t just guess."

The video received mix comments after being posted on Facebook, with some people branding the men who spurred the driver on as "irresponsible," whilst others have said the driver should have been aware of the height of his vehicle.

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