STEAM trains on the West Somerset Railway (WSR) have resumed normal services after a lorry carrying two mini diggers collided with a bridge.

The Watersmeet bridge which crosses the B3224 near its junction with the A358, between Combe Florey and Bishops Lydeard, was hit on Thursday morning (June 18).

It happened just after the WSR’s 10.15 am service had departed Bishops Lydeard Station nearly a mile away.

Motorists who were travelling behind the low loader lorry when the incident happened were able to flag down and stop the train just moments before it reached the bridge.

Photographs showed part of the stone support structure of the cast iron bridge, located between Bishops Lydeard and Crowcombe Heathfield Stations, had been dislodged and loosened.

The WSR immediately suspended its regular services while an assessment of the damage was carried out and instead ran diesel trains between Minehead and Crowcombe Heathfield, and Somerset Council closed the B3224.

A WSR spokesperson said: “We are pleased to advise following assessment of the bridge damaged, services have now returned to normal.

“While there is some damage to the bridge which will need to be repaired, this does not affect its structural safety, therefore allowing the resumption of services.

“Many thanks to all our customers for their understanding.

“Customers who had pre-booked tickets will receive an email from us, any customers who bought tickets whose journey was affected and have not already spoken to us, please contact us by email at [email protected].”

Peat restorer and part-time gardener Charlie Liddle was one the people who helped avert potential disaster by stopping the 10.15 am train running across the bridge.

Mr Liddle told the Free Press he was driving behind the lorry and saw the top beam of one of the diggers hit the front of the bridge, spinning the machine around and causing it to fall part-way off the vehicle and collide with the wall of the bridge.

He said: “We got out of the car and heard the train coming toward us and thought the digger had taken out an important part of the bridge.

“We thought it would be best to try to stop the train but we didn’t want to go on the tracks.

“So, we started waving from the side and I was wearing a pink jumper which made me more visible and the driver spotted me quickly.

“It took him the full distance to stop and the driver said he was fully loaded on all the carriages.

“He was only about 80 to 100 yards short of the bridge.

“The structural engineers looked underneath where the rocks had fallen down and the cement was loose and said it is going to take some time to fix.

“There were no injuries fortunately, but it could have escalated.”

The Watersmeet bridge is little more than half-a-mile from Tribble bridge over the A358 where the 20-mile heritage line was blocked in late 2022 by a landslide which caused severe damage to the track infrastructure.