There have been reports on social media that a lorry has become trapped under a bridge in a busy South Ruislip road.
The road has been closed to traffic and trains are travelling at a reduced speed on all lines through the area.
It appears the incident happened just outside South Ruislip Underground Station in Long Drive.
Drivers are warning people to 'steer clear' of the area because of the road closure.
Chiltern Railways tweeted at around 10am: "Due to a lorry colliding with a bridge at South Ruislip trains have to run at a reduced speed on all lines."
Reports of the incident first surfaced on Facebook at around 9.50am.
The road is believed to be closed from the main traffic lights on the road to the station.
Send us your pictures and videos by emailing alexander.ballinger@trinitymirror.com
End of live blog
That marks the end of our live coverage of the lorry crashing into the bridge in South Ruislip.
To recap the crash happened at around 9.45am this morning and train services were slowed coming through the Ruislip area.
Station Approach and Long Drive were initially closed to traffic and were later down to one lane as police and Network Rail attempted to shift the trapped lorry.
It was eventually cleared from under the bridge at around 1.30pm but traffic has remained bad in the area throughout the day.
'Traffic still heavy'
Reports through Facebook that traffic remains bad in the South Ruislip area, five hours after the lorry collided with the bridge.
Reports broken height sign may have contributed to lorry crash
There has been a suggestion online that a broken height warning sign could have contributed to the lorry crashing into the bridge.
One person commenting on Facebook said: “The overheight vehicle sign has been flashing continuously for three months even for cars. If it worked properly maybe the driver would have realised it was for him.”
Another said: “Not for the first time and not, I’m sure for the last. There is in at least one direction a sign which should flash on to warn approaching drivers if they are over the limit (height not drink!) but it seems to be permanently on so gets ignored.”
Another tweeted Hillingdon Council to say they had previously reported the broken sign.
@TfL @Hillingdon reported the faulty low bridge signs so often no wonder its ignored. The one the pub side has been flashing over a year!
— Olly shah (@OllyShah) August 23, 2016
Traffic looking bad heading into rush hour
Traffic around South Ruislip and Ruislip Gardens is still looking backed up due to the trapped lorry.
Cars are queuing along Station Approach and Long Drive where the lorry is stuck, while West End Road and Victoria Road also have traffic building heading into the busiest part of the day.
Lorry removed at 1.30pm
Network Rail have said the lorry was cleared from the bridge at around 1.30pm.
However, traffic remains heavy in the area.
A spokesperson said: There was no structural damage to the bridge so services were allowed to continue to use it. The lorry was removed at about 1.30pm this afternoon.”
At around 2.30pm a witness said: “Traffic around the area is a nightmare still”
'Police and lorry driver are trying to remove the lorry'
Another witness has said the incident is still on going and that the police and lorry driver are working together to free the trapped vehicle.
She also sent this picture -
'What they were doing is beyond me'
The eye-witness who said he was told the police could not deflate the tyres has said ‘no one seems to know what to do’ at the scene.
He said: “There were two motorcycle officers, one commercial vehicle incident unit, and that’s it. And a few from network rail and two underground staff, what they were doing is beyond me.
“Seems no one knew what to do, if the police were not qualified, then why were they stopping others with good ideas to move the truck stopped in assisting.
“But what has baffled me, who was qualified to move the truck? Officers said could not drive truck as damage may be caused to bridge, then deflating the tires is the only option. Health and safety kicks in again.”
Reports police cannot deflate tyres due to health and safety
An eye-witness said he was told by police they cannot deflate the tyres of the lorry to free it due to health and safety concerns.
He said: “I just spoke to the Officer in charge of this incident, I suggested, why not deflate the lorry tires so the vehicle can be moved, by lowering it.
“Officer advised was not qualified to do that or any other police officer in case someone gets injured, local garage offered same question was advised, not allowed to as police and Network rail will deal with as see fit.”
The same idea has been suggested by a number of getwestlondon readers on Facebook.
The witness added that the incident was causing ‘travel chaos’
Incident ongoing
Road closure remain in place and the lorry is still stuck.
Don’t forget to email videos and pictures to alexander.ballinger@trinitymirror.com
'Incident ongoing but no one reported injured'
The Metropolitan Police say they are still on the scene but that no one is reported to have been injured in the crash.
A spokesperson said: “We were called at 9.45am.
“Road closures wer put in place in Station Approach junction with West End Road. Engineers were called to assess.
“It continues. You have to be careful when you recover something like this.
“Road closures are still in place.
“No one reported injured.”
Witness said the crash scared her children
One witness has said the crash scared her and her children as the lorry became jammed.
She said: “I was walking under it with the kids we all screamed because he came through quite fast. Not speeding but fast considering his lorry was tall.”
Fire service were called to the scene
London Fire Brigade (LFB) were called to the scene to help.
A spokesperson for LFB said: “We were called at 9.54am to reports of a lorry in collision with a railway bridge.
“It caused superficial damage to the bridge. The police and London Underground staff were also at the scene.
“We sent one fire engine and a fire rescue unit.
“The incident was over for us a 10.21am.
“There was some disruption to traffic in the area due to the road being partially closed.”
Send us your pictures and videos
If you have any pictures or videos from the scene you can send them to us by emailing alexander.ballinger@trinitymirror.com
Trains running as normal
Chiltern Railways tweeted again at 10.30am to say lines had been restored to normal
The disruption caused by a lorry colliding with a bridge at South Ruislip has now ended. BL
— Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway) August 23, 2016
Repeat of a recent incident
Lorries getting caught under this bridge in South Ruislip is not a new occurrence.
Last July a skip driver was taken to hospital with injuries after he attempted to driver under it.
Drivers stuck in traffic in the area
Drivers have posted online to say they are caught in traffic because of the incident.
One said at around 10am: “Sitting in the traffic. Road closed from main traffic lights to South Ruislip station.”
While another said: “Road now closed from Sainsbury’s”
Trains running slow through South Ruislip
Chiltern Railways sent this tweet at around 10am
Due to a lorry colliding with a bridge at South Ruislip trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines. BL
— Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway) August 23, 2016
Pictures from the scene
More pictures are now appearing from the scene and show the lorry wedged firmly underneath the bridge.
'Police turned up and closed the road'
A witness has recalled the moment a lorry became stuck under a bridge in South Ruislip.
She said: “Heard massive banging noise & looked over & the lorry was stuck under bridge, the police then turned up & have closed the road at junction of Victoria road & Long drive but traffic still allowed through along station approach. There was also 2 fire engines only one now I think the chiltern line has been stopped”
