SIGNS which road bosses hope will stop lorries smashing into a railway bridge are expected to be in place by the end of next month.

The signs will show weight and height limits and are being put in place in a bid to stop further crashes at the Oak Road railway bridge in Rivenhall.

According to a Braintree Local Highway Panel agenda they are expected to cost £23,500 however, plans to re-route lorries which are too tall have been put on hold until Highways England announces its plans to improve the A12 in the area.

James Abbott, chairman of Rivenhall Parish Council, said: "This is something which has been a real issue for some time.

"I've spoken to some of the lorry drivers down there in the past after they have hit the bridge and you ask what happened and they just say they saw the signs but thought they'd take their chances.

"I think what we really want to see are signs which are triggered and light up when an over-height lorry goes past it.

"But we don't want them to be right on top of the bridge because it can take up to an hour for them to reverse out from there."

Mr Abbott also said Rivenhall Parish Council is considering approaching Network Rail to ask if it might make a contribution towards the cost of the work.

He said: "It's their bridge so it's them that has to come out and check the bridge is still safe for trains whenever a lorry hits it."

Mr Abbott was speaking before it was revealed a lorry driver who drove into the bridge had been convicted for driving without due care and attention.

Christopher Fayers, had nine points put on his licence and was fined £440 following the crash in August, when he appeared in court last month.

Officers were called to the scene in Oak Road on August 20 last year where the lorry had hit a railway bridge.

The bridge was not damaged in the incident but the lorry was found badly damaged in a layby.

PC Richard March, of the Stanway Roads Policing Unit, said: "While the bridge did not suffer any structural damage, Fayers was careless and failed to recognise the danger he had put himself and other people in.

"We continued to investigate his actions and he has since been convicted."

Fayers, 73, of Stafford Road, Great Yarmouth, admitted that he was the driver and that his actions were careless when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates Court on January 23.

As well as the fine, he was ordered to pay costs of £90 and a victim surcharge of £44.