A LORRY colliding with a railway bridge near Aberdour caused delays and diversions on the Fife Circle.

A HVG struck the bridge on the B9157 just south of the village and it led to the train line via Aberdour being closed in both directions for more than two hours.

The incident took place at around 4.30pm last night (Thursday).

Network Rail Scotland announced at 5.34pm that its staff were at the site and the lorry had been moved clear, but would need to ensure the bridge was safe for trains to use before the line could re-open.

Network Rail were able to confirm at 6.06pm that the bridge at Aberdour was safe to re-open, but they had reports that another bridge - on the same road - had also been struck, leading to delays in allowing the line to be used by trains again.

By 6.48pm the railway company were able to deem that bridge safe for use and the line was able to re-open again.

A spokesperson said: "The second bridge has now been inspected and confirmed to be safe for trains to pass over. Apologies to passengers on ScotRail and LNER (services) affected by this."

During the recovery of the vehicle and the inspection of the bridge and train line, ScotRail had announced that trains would need diverted.

At 5.46pm, a spokesperson had said: "We're diverting trains via Cowdenbeath wherever possible, but we can't run any trains between Kirkcaldy and Inverkeithing via Aberdour until the bridge has been checked."

Police Scotland confirmed an investigation was under way to see whether any damage had been caused.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 4.30 pm on Thursday, January 21, a lorry became stuck under a railway bridge on the B9157 just before the roundabout at Aberdour.

"The lorry was freed a very short time later and there were no reports of anyone injured.

"Enquiries are ongoing to access any damage."