The Rover saloon that crashed through the parapet of Broken Cross Bridge near Ford is lifted clear of the Salisbury to London Railway lineA DRIVER had a miraculous escape when her car ploughed through the parapet of Broken Cross Bridge, near Ford, and slid nearly 20ft on to the railway line.

The 29-year-old woman, from Wareham, in Dorset, was taken to Salisbury District Hospital suffering from what were described as minor injuries and shock after the accident, which happened at 8.05am last Thursday.

The accident, one of three in south Wiltshire that morning, prompted Salisbury MP Robert Key to call again for urgent action to be taken to make the bridge safe and ensure such an event never occurred again.

Mr Key said he had been "pursuing this issue for years".

His latest letters to the highway and rail authorities were written on October 27 - only ten days before last week's accident.

Speaking just three hours after it, he said: "I visited Broken Cross Bridge ten days ago because I had seen, while driving past, that a car had crashed yet again in the exact same spot.

"I examined it in detail before writing the two letters, saying I was alarmed at the damage and wanting reassurance that the bridge was safe.

"I had written in July and was told the county council was in discussion with the Strategic Rail Authority and that, between then and Christmas, they would decide what to do.

"Obviously, that was not early enough.

"It's amazing that this lady sustained so little injury and we must all be thankful for that, but, given the half-hourly trains travelling very fast at that point, it is a miracle she survived."

He said he had tabled a Parliamentary question asking the transport minister to call for a report on the accident.

The minister has the power to give extra money for a bridge to be repaired in circumstances like those of Broken Cross Bridge, he said.

The driver in last week's accident had been heading from Salisbury towards the Winterbournes on the A338 when her blue Rover saloon went across the road, hit the parapet and ploughed through it, dislodging brickwork and forcing the metal railings upwards.

The car slid down the embankment and rolled on to its roof, then back on to its wheels.

It was removed by a recovery vehicle and engineers made the area safe.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said that, at the time of the accident, the nearest train was in Andover, so "the travelling public was in no danger".

"Network Rail is fully co-operating with Wiltshire police, who are investigating this accident," she said.