The lifting Kingsferry road and rail bridge in Kent got 'stuck' in the up position this afternoon (April 1) after the bridge was clipped by the small cargo ship, passing underneath the bridge on its way to Ridham Docks. Initially it was feared the bridge would be out of action for several hours and stuck in the up position, but a Network Rail engineer managed to safely lower the bridge after a brief hold up, to allow road traffic to continue. Trains were suspended for most of the afternoon until Network Rail engineers approved the bridge as safe for rail travel.

Local Network Rail tweeted: “We've had a bridge strike with a difference this afternoon...The Kingsferry bridge has been struck by a ship. As a consequence no services can run on the Sheerness branch line.”

Footage show the engineer checking the bridge as they tried to lower it back into position.