A lift on the back of a light goods vehicle caught the long-established bridge, tearing it from the ground.

Peter Hillaby from Auto 66, which runs the motorbike racing at Oliver's Mount and is the owner of the landmark bridge, said the incident was a "nightmare" for the racing. He said: "This could threaten the racing here at Oliver's Mount. This is just terrible."

Scarborough Police were called to the scene at 5pm. The driver of the MKM Building Services lorry which collided with the bridge was not hurt.

PC Dave Bowley, said: "The lift on the back of the vehicle has caught the bridge. The bridge looks completely destroyed. The driver was shaken but he was OK when we arrived.

"Obviously our main concern now is removing the bridge and lorry from the road."

The road was blocked for several hours and Scarborough Council's highways engineers were called out to put in diversions.

Scarborough Council's highways team leader, Neil Sinclair, said: "This is certainly not something you see every day and it may take us some time to get the bridge and lorry removed.

"We came to assess the situation. The bridge obviously needs lifting down and we will help assist that. We have put diversions to keep traffic away from the area."

The bridge is near the football pitch at the top of the mount.

The first race meeting at Oliver's Mount was in 1946 and over the years it has been the proving ground for many future world champions.

Famous riders who have raced at the two and a half mile track include Takazumi Katayama, Carl Fogarty, Barry Sheene, Bob McIntyre and Kent Andersson.



l To see video footage of the aftermath of yesterday's accident, log on to our website, www. scarborougheveningnews.co.uk and click on the logo for SEN TV.