BRIDGE-HITTING has become an annual pastime for residents of Romsey, but Network Rail says none of the town's railway bridges scratch the 100 most hit UK-wide.

New figures released by Network Rail reveal heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) colliding with bridges caused over 100 days of delays for rail passengers last year.

The Chronicle asked Network Rail about bridges on Winchester Road and Greatbridge Road, discovering the prior was the 101st most hit in the country in 2023/24 with two strikes.

Read more: Bridge-hitting lorries raised to police by Romsey Town Council

At the most recent Romsey Town Council meeting councillors raised the recurring problem of bridge-striking lorries with one of the new police inspectors for the Test Valley, Stuart Ross.

At the meeting, the council requested authorities to do more to prevent tall vehicles from hitting Romsey's railway bridges thereby reducing the danger to the public and the risk of major disruption.

Reported bridge strikes have declined in recent years, with 2023/24's 1,532 strikes below 2019/20's 1,825, according to Network Rail.

In the financial year ending April 2024, the hits cost Britain’s rail industry around £20m in delays, cancellations and repairs.

Read more: Another lorry gets stuck under notorious railway bridge in Romsey

A lorry getting stuck under one of Romsey's bridges on Winchester Road Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director, said: “Every time a vehicle hits a bridge it can serious safety issues for road and rail users.

"To compound matters, these incidents can delay tens of thousands of passengers while we inspect the bridge and repair any damage – creating costs from public funds which should be used upgrading and improving our network."

Martin continued: "We’ve done a lot of work with transport partners to tackle bridge strikes and it’s encouraging to see this is paying off with a general downward trend in the number of incidents.

"But with a strike every six hours there’s still much to do and we urge operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and be vigilant for road signs showing the height of bridges.

"We will report those who don’t to the Traffic Commissioners and Network Rail always looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver and the operator."

Network Rail has provided no detail about the bridge on Greatbridge Road saying they can find no record of it under that name.