North Walsham's most notorious railway bridge has shrunk six inches.

New signs on the town's Cromer Road bridge show it to be shorter than the height recorded on the previous signs.

The bridge, site of numerous lorry bashes, used to be 13' 9'.

But the new sign, which also shows its height in metres, says that it is 13' 3' (4m) tall.

New signs on all the town's railway bridges are part of £44,000 worth of measures to stop further bridge bashes which block main roads into the town for hours and can damage the structures, which carry Bittern Line trains.

The Cromer Road bridge was most recently struck in November last year. Before that, between April 1 2013 and March 31 last year, there were four strikes at the same spot.

A county council spokesman said it was true that height restrictions were different on the new signs.

She explained: 'This is because the regulations have changed – under a bridge we have to take into account the dip in the road and accommodate a long vehicle going down and up that dip. 'Under the most recent regulations we have to allow for a vehicle 20m long going under and adjust the height restriction accordingly.'

Eric Seward, who represents North Walsham on Norfolk County Council, said: 'If the new height signs discourage lorry drivers from going there, so much the better - I'm all in favour.'