The old Railway Bridge in Brightstone is always susceptible to heavy rain and, following the heavy rain last night it was no surprise to find over 5 feet of water between the buttresses of the dismantled railway bridge.
However, locals were surprised to find someone standing on the roof of a van, which was almost completely submerged in the centre of the bridge.
While it is not uncommon for vehicles to ignore the water depth gauges each side and become stranded in the water this is something of a record as only the top of the depth gauge is visible , indicating just under 6 feet of water under the bridge.
The incident heralded the arrival of an assortment of emergency and rescue vehicles engines which arrived and parked on the Crossroads side of the bridge as they assembled to rescue the driver from the flood.
After a consultation between Fire and Ambulance crews and close examination of the incident the driver was retrieved onto relatively dry land and probably asked the inevitable question !!!
Order is now restored and the water has now dropped quite a bit and, hopefully, the van will be removed and the water will eventually drain away and it will be safe to drive through Brightstone Bridge again !
Thanks to David Wiliams for the pictures and be warned to keep an eye on the water levels before driving through the Brightstone Bridge
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