Two railway bridges in south Essex rank among those that have been smashed into the most by cars and lorries across East Anglia, Network Rail has revealed.

Crashes at railway bridges in Thorpe Bay and Hockley are among those that have cost passengers hours in delays in the last five years, the company said.

Hits to bridges also cost the taxpayer £740k in the last five years, with more than 40 per cent of lorry drivers admitting to taking their chances and not measuring their vehicle.

The bridges, in Greensward Lane, Hockley, which is on the Greater Anglia line, and in Thorpe Hall Avenue, Thorpe Bay, on the C2C line, are regularly hit by lorries.

Accidents involving the Hockley bridge over the last five years have cost £109,000 to repair.

Damage to the bridge in Thorpe Bay have cost taxpayers £105,000.

In December last year, a lorry hit the bridge in Thorpe Hall Avenue blocking the road in both directions and suspending trains between Southend Central and Shoebury.

The end of October sees a peak in the number of crashes at bridges, rising to almost ten per day. Research suggests this could be due to the hour change and increased deliveries ahead of Christmas. Figures show most crashes happen between 10am and 11am, but remain high all day until around 6pm.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “We know that most drivers are complete professionals and take safety on the road very seriously.

“However we know there are also some areas where we could be better across the industry to stop strikes happening and give drivers and logistics companies the tools they need to help tackle the problem more effectively.“ Network Rail did not provide a breakdown in figures for how many times the bridges had been hit.