More than 600 drivers in overweight vehicles were stopped from crossing Marlow Bridge during a month-long police crackdown, officers have revealed.

From Monday, April 3, any vehicle that weighs more than three tonnes maximum gross weight (MGW) and more than 6ft 6ins wide will be slapped with a £50 fine if they try and cross the Grade I listed structure.

The second phase of the police crackdown comes as Transport for Bucks announced that they will be looking at options to protect the bridge from a repeat of the disastrous incident that saw it close for two months after a HGV crossed it in September last year.

New signs, barriers or even ANPR cameras could be introduced after engineers carry out a four-month long study on the best option.  

However, suggestions that cameras could be used on the bridge was met with scepticism from a Marlow resident when it was mentioned at a town council meeting on March 14, fearing that a repeat of the Wycombe car park scandal could happen if the camera system was put in place.

Wycombe District Council was forced to ditch the failed camera system from most of its car parks after a Bucks Free Press investigation revealed the camera operated parking system covering the district could be letting ticket dodgers get away scot-free.

Mark Skoyles, who was present at the meeting, said: “With the trouble we have had with car parking and the difficulty in getting vehicle records from the DVLA, what is to stop that happening again with the bridge?”

Cllr Richard Scott said it was a “different matter” because the bridge camera system may be run by police instead of local authorities who were unable to get the DVLA data.

Town mayor, cllr Bob Johnson added: “The police do a sterling job of monitoring these guys and giving out warning notices but they cannot be there all day every day. Substituting that with a camera that costs £20,000, looking at what we will save, especially with the maintenance of the bridge, it seems to me that it is a very sensible solution.”

PS Robin Hughes from the Marlow neighbourhood team said officers are working with partners to look at the longer term solutions to the issue.

He said: “The majority of people that we have turned around in the first phase of this operation have been very understanding and genuinely unaware their vehicle was overweight. It is however your responsibility to ensure you know your vehicle’s MGW so please make sure you take a moment to check this.

“There have been a small group of drivers over the past month who have tried to cross the bridge in an overweight vehicle on more than one occasion and seem to have no regard for the weight limit. One vehicle we stopped was over 10 metric tonnes - seven tonnes over the limit.

“This weight limit is in place to help protect a well-loved, historic landmark and, as previous events have demonstrated, overweight vehicles attempting to cross it can cause serious disruption to our town.”