A LORRY has caused traffic chaos after smashing a barrier and leaving a notorious road partially blocked for hours.

Officers from Essex Police were called to reports of an accident involving a lorry in The Causeway, Manningtree, at 3pm on Tuesday.

As a result, the A137 was partially blocked near the Manningtree railway line and high topped vehicles had to find alternative routes as they could not get under the station bridge.

A spokesman for Greater Anglia has said trains were cautioned but there were no delays or cancellations in the Manningtree area at about the time of the accident.

Drivers, however, have had to face major tailbacks with traffic slowly moving both ways near B1352 Station Road.

A spokesman for Essex Police has confirmed no one is believed to have been injured in the crash.

The Manningtree bridge has suffered many incidents over the years, with the most recent one in July 2021, when a van got stuck causing delays around the station.

The notorious Manningtree underpass has recently been named one of the most bashed bridges in the Anglia region.

Network Rail has even placed it on its top ten list for the most commonly struck bridges, with ten strikes recorded between 2020 and 2021.

Back in 2012, a double-decker bus had also ploughed into the bridge and suffered extensive damage.

Tendring councillor Carlo Guglielmi, responsible for enforcement, has been campaigning for years to improve the traffic situation at Manningtree bridge.

He said:"I have bene trying to address the problem for quite some time and I am getting very frustrated.

"I will be taking the whole matter on the state of the road and the matter of pedestrian crossings to a surgery in February to discuss all the issues with the cabinet member.

"For years I have been trying to get traffic lights there because you need to regulate the traffic on both sides – Suffolk-bound and Essex-bound."

Mr Guglielmi has also addressed the urgent need for crossings.

He added:"There is no real safe way for pedestrians to get from one side of the road to the other.

"And of course the resurfacing of the road is desperately needed."