A LORRY hanging precariously over the edge of a bridge above a busy railway line in East Yorkshire is unlikely to be moved until Thursday at the earliest.

Humberside Police said the A614 at Howden was likely to remain closed for several days after two lorries collided on the Caville Railway Bridge, yesterday morning.

The accident, between a lorry and a truck carrying a heavy-lift crane, left the lorry teetering over the Selby-to-Hull line.

Its position has hampered efforts to efforts to remove it and has delayed the start of a clean-up operation. Miraculously, none of the occupants of either lorry were seriously injured in the crash.

The line between Howden and Eastrington and the road bridge is likely to be shut for some time while an operation to remove both vehicles is carried out.

Police chiefs are now considering widening the road to allow a huge crane to get into position to lift the vehicles. A Humberside Police spokesman said: "The road remains closed and may possibly be so for days.

"Due to the precarious situation of the lorries, recovery of the vehicles will be extremely difficult and time consuming.

"In the meantime, diversions will remain via the village of Eastrington. All motorists are advised to find alternative routes until further notice."

Railtrack said it had to wait for the lorries to be removed from the site before it could begin assessing and repairing the damage to the bridge.

A spokeswoman said: "We can't go in and assess the condition of the bridge until the vehicles have been removed. It is unstable and we won't allow our workers underneath the bridge until it is safe."

Arriva Trains Northern, which runs services on the Selby-to-Hull line, said it was operating replacement buses.

Updated: 15:35 Tuesday, July 30, 2002