South Derbyshire bridge hit with ‘significant damage’ after ‘car crash’

A suspected car crash has caused 'significant damage' to a South Derbyshire bridge used by hundreds of motorists every day. Willington Bridge has been hit by the damage after what police have described as a 'large incident'.

It comes after a number of people living nearby called police out to the bridge. They say the damage they found was consistent with a car crash having taken place.

The bridge spans the River Trent connects the villages of Willington and Repton, having been built in 1839 as a toll bridge. The toll was removed in 1898.

After the incident was reported on Friday, September 8, initial enquiries took place to rule out the possibility of a vehicle or person being in the river below the bridge.

Photo of damage to Willington Bridge The damage to the bridge

Police say that once this was completed the area was made as safe as possible and Derbyshire Highways was made aware of the incident, DerbyshireLive reports.

A witness, who wished to remain unnamed, said: "I was in a car when a lorry hit it. It made a big bang. The lorry carried on driving but there was lots of traffic at the time." At this time it has not been confirmed by police what vehicle caused the damage.

One local reported that they had seen police "scouring" a track at a nearby nature reserve. PC Williams and Stafford of the Swadlincote SNT began searching for the vehicle before encountering another incident.

NEWSLETTER: Sign up for free email alerts to StaffordshireLive straight to your inbox here[2]

References

  1. ^ New shop opens in Burton town centre (www.staffordshire-live.co.uk)
  2. ^ Sign up for free email alerts to StaffordshireLive straight to your inbox here (data.reachplc.com)