4.06pm

THE DRIVER of a lorry which struck a Newport railway bridge this afternoon told how he was thrown off his seat, hit his head on the wind screen and almost hit railings on the side of the road.

The incident happened just a week after another lorry crashed into the railway bridge on Cardiff Road in Newport.

Mark Williams, from Birmingham, was on his way to a collection at a business park at around 2pm when his empty 15-foot lorry struck a railway bridge at around 1.30pm.

He said he managed to hold on to the steering wheel to stop the lorry hitting any pedestrians. He was later taken to hospital.

Argus employee Gwyn Roberts said: "We just heard it, it was like a huge clap of thunder. It didn't stop underneath, it came staight through."

Last week a Homebase lorry hit the same bridge.

At least one service between Ebbw Vale Parkway and Cardiff was redirected via Newport after the bridge on Cardiff Road, near the Argus building, was briefly closed, according to Network Rail.

A Network Rail spokesman said it reopened the bridge around 3pm after a structural engineer had look at it and found the damage was cosmetic.

Police, who were called at around 1.55pm and were directing traffic at the scene, said the lorry has been recovered.

3.10pm

A LORRY collided with a railway bridge in Newport this afternoon.

The articulated wagon, which was not carrying a load, hit the bridge on Cardiff Road.

The driver of the vehicle was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital after suffering minor injuries.

The lorry is the second to collide with the bridge within a week.