Roof sliced off double decker as it hits rail bridge in Wishaw

The upstairs deck was open to the elements after the roof was ripped off the 240 service

The roof of a double-decker bus has been sliced off after it hit a railway bridge in North Lanarkshire.

The upstairs seats were left open to the elements after the crash happened in Heathery Road, Wishaw, at about 11:40 on Monday.

First Bus said three passengers and a driver were on board and all were downstairs at the time of the incident. There were no reports of any injuries.

Rail services were disrupted while the bridge was assessed by experts.

Trains later resumed as normal.

'Loud bang'

Stuart Chalmers was working in his garage near the bridge when he heard a loud bang.

He told BBC Scotland: "Me and few others ran out, saw the bus roof off and and ran to make sure everyone was ok. Thankfully, there were only three people on the bus and no-one injured."

Only three passengers were on board the First Bus service and all were sitting downstairs with the driver

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We were called to a report of a double-decker bus colliding with a railway bridge near Glasgow Road, Wishaw, around 11:40 this morning.

"There are no reports of any injuries and road diversions are in place."

Duncan Cameron, operations director for First Glasgow, said the 240 bus service was "involved in a bridge strike incident that resulted in the roof coming off the vehicle."

He added: "Thankfully, no-one on board was injured in this incident and we have launched an immediate investigation into the root cause to ensure we can learn any lessons to avoid a repeat of this type of incident in future.

"We are also assisting Police Scotland with their inquiries into the incident."