An inquiry was under way today after a double-deck bus had part of its roof ripped off by a railway bridge.

The First Bradford bus - which was out of service - was travelling to the depot in Bowling Back Lane after returning from Leeds.

It hit the bridge in Birksland Street, crushing the roof. About half the roof is understood to have been damaged in the incident, which involved one of the company's two-year-old Volvo vehicles.

The accident caused delays for commuters at Bradford Interchange as the route was closed for about one hour.

First Bradford marketing officer Brandon Jones said: "We can confirm that a First Bradford bus, which was not in service, was involved in an incident in Birksland Street.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this caused. An internal investigation has been launched."

A Railtrack spokesman said the bridge was immediately closed off to trains following the incident on Thursday so it could be inspected.

"The incident was reported at 7.34pm," said the spokesman. "A full examination of the bridge was completed by 8.35pm and trains were moving normally five minutes later."

The bridge, which is in an industrial area of the city, has been at the centre of a number of accidents in recent years.

Lucjan Romanski, 48, who works nearby, said he saw the bus come through the bridge.

"It hit the bridge and came out the other side," he said.

"Part of the roof was hanging off, the back window came out and a big chunk of metal was left on the road.

"The roof was crumpled completely.

"Every week there are problems with lorries trying to get under the bridge."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.