Oxfordshire: Four historic bridges struck by vehicles
The narrow Radcot bridge which carries the A4095 road north of Faringdon is struck several times a week on average, according to staff at the nearby Olde Swan pub.
It needs repairs in two places after lorries and coaches repeatedly hit the parapet and in a separate incident another lorry clipped the corner wall which fell down.
Staff at the pub vehicles have hit the bridge ‘countless’ times this year.
General manager Brandon Wheatcroft said drivers of HGVs and coaches ignore diversion signs.
He said: “From the Swindon direction they are not even meant to come this way and from the other side they are meant to go round by Witney[1]. But they keep trying.
“This year is the worst I’ve seen it. Before it was every couple of months but now it’s several times a week.
“Coaches keep trying it too and they get stuck.”
The Halfpenny Bridge at Lechlade has been shut since a car crashed into it on June 20, leaving a driver needing hospital treatment.
Structural damage means it will not re-open to traffic until late July at the earliest, Gloucestershire County[2] Council said, although it is safe for pedestrians and cyclists.
Meanwhile a man was arrested after a BMW left the road and crashed through the wall of the bridge on Bridge Street in Witney on December 4, 2022.
The bridge has remained cordoned off ever since.
And the wall on Burford bridge was hit by a Mercedes Sprinter van on June 9 2022 and is still cordoned off.
Oxfordshire County Council said there are no firm start or finish dates for the repairs to these bridges, although Burford bridge repairs are most likely to begin first, followed by Witney bridge, then Radcot.