EXCLUSIVE

A WAGON driver took 20 minutes to back up more than one mile down a narrow country road under police escort after he crunched his 38-ton lorry into a low back bridge.

Trains were briefly delayed on the west coast line to London as safety checks were swiftly made along the track above the Bonis Hall Lane viaduct in Prestbury yesterday morning (Tuesday).

And disgruntled commuters - sighing deeply over yet another disruption to their morning drive into work - were also held up as officers halted traffic and closed the road for 40 minutes from 9.10am to 9.50am so they could help the driver reverse his juggernaut.

At the mouth of Bonis Hall he was able to turn round and continue his journey into Bollington via another route.

Meanwhile motorists took a diversion down Butley Lanes and through Prestbury.

The Polish driver hit the 13.6ft railway bridge before he realised his HGV wouldn't fit under it. But he was able to stop before serious damage was done to either his vehicle or the viaduct.

Keith Lumley, spokesman for Network Rail, said: "I can confirm there was a bridge bash in Macclesfield."

Sergeant Carl Bailey, of the Target Patrol Team at Cheshire Police, who with PC Ross Gibson, managed to control the mayhem, said: "The driver just hadn't seen the sign earlier down the road, and he was only about two inches too tall.

"He spoke very little English but I could tell he was very apologetic. He was reversing for almost 20 minutes!"

The driver, for haulage company AP Transport, based in Middlesex, said his map indicated he would fit under the bridge.

Sgt Bailey added: "He was quite calm really, although he seemed a bit worried about reversing a considerable distance - we had to direct him down the road for the best part of a mile!"