Cameras to be installed on Marlow Bridge following 'damage' from heavy vehicles

Cameras will also be placed on the iconic bridge for a one-month trial period starting from November 3 with Buckinghamshire Council looking to assess the level of traffic violations.

Nine bollards were installed on the bridge as width restrictions in mid-February to prevent heavy HGVs from crossing the bridge.

However, a campaign to remove the bollards was launched just a few weeks after they were installed with calls from locals to place ANPR cameras on the bridge.

This how now come to fruition as the council launches a trial using traffic enforcement cameras.

Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We are looking to install these temporary cameras to give us a better idea of the number of vehicles currently breaking the rules and causing a danger to others and damage to our roads and highways infrastructure.

“We want to make our roads and towns as safe as possible for everyone who uses them. This exercise will help us to better understand the way motorists are using these areas so that we can address particular issues and introduce measures to help improve safety and accessibility for all.”

There have been a number of incidents over the years when overweight vehicles have attempted to cross the historic bridge.

In 2016, it was closed and saw “overstressing on key structural parts” when a HGV driver from a European haulage company vastly exceeded a three-tonne weight limit in his 37-tonne lorry, blew a tyre and got stuck.

Two months later another disaster was barely averted when an overweight van attempted to cross it five minutes after it was officially reopened following extensive inspections.

Then, in 2017, one lorry managed to get through its width restrictions before being flagged down; while on a separate occasion a P&O Ferrymasters wagon blew its tyres while attempting to cross the weight-restricted bridge.

A Bensons for Beds lorry also exceeded the bridge weight limit in 2019.