Network Rail apologise over crossing repair delay

The level crossing at Farnham station was closed after a lorry collided with the barriers

Network Rail has apologised for the "unacceptably long time" it took to repair a level crossing which reopened at Farnham Station earlier.

A skip lorry crashed into the barrier on Friday, forcing Network Rail to close the crossing for five days.

It said the delay in the repair was caused by a lack of available replacement barriers.

However, local businesses have expressed anger over the closure.

Mohammad Nasir, a co-owner of local business Coffeemax, told BBC Radio Surrey he would usually have had 20 customers in a morning, but when the crossing was closed he welcomed "one or two".

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We’re really sorry for the disruption residents and businesses in Farnham have experienced."

Due to "a number of similar incidents across the Wessex route", the spokesman added, engineers didn't have access to a replacement barrier.

"We recognise this meant the road at Farnham station was closed for an unacceptably long time," they said.

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