THE flashing lights which could halt the succession of lorries crashing into Romsey's Greatbridge Road railway bridge are set to be installed in the next few weeks.

Approval for the lights, which will contain sensors detecting lorries higher than the bridge's 14 feet three inch headroom, was formally granted on Tuesday by Hampshire County Council's executive member for spatial strategy, Councillor Jonathan Glen.

His decision comes after a year marred by at least seven bridge collisions Cllr Glen said: "It is vital that an issue like this is solved. This bridge is on part of our safer routes to school network and we can't have high-sided vehicles knocking into it."

Parts of the rail network were, he said, built in Victorian times and many of the modern day lorries were too high to get under some of the bridges.

But he was quick to stress: "Lorry drivers are a vital part of our economic system and goods have to be delivered."

There will be two sets of lights to the north of the bridge - one on the A3057 just to the south of the World of Water and one in Fishlake Meadows at its junction with the A3057 - and one set to the south, at the Malmesbury Road/Duttons Road, Princes Road junction.

Their illuminated messages will tell drivers: Overheight vehicle turn left (on the A3057), Overheight vehicle turn right (at Fishlake Meadows) and Overheight vehicle turn back (at Malmesbury Road).

Councillor Glen also pointed out that the flashing lights installed on the A31 Winchester Hill approach to the once-notorious Sun Arch had been successful in reducing bridge strikes and said he hoped the ones about to be installed at Greatbridge would be equally successful.

The overall cost of the lights has been put at £120,000 but the cost to the county is set to be reduced by a donation from Network Rail, which owns the bridge.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley welcomed the decision to go ahead with the flashing lights, but renewed her calls for better signing further from Romsey to prevent high vehicles from heading along the A3057.

"It is important to make sure the lorries don't go along there in the first place," she said.

Mrs Gidley accepted that a considerable amount of thought had gone into the wording which will appear on the signs, but reflected: "I think there could still be some disruption when drivers have to manoeuvre after discovering their vehicles are too high."