IT was one of those slightly sleepy late spring afternoons.

The weather was warm and the birds singing.

I was busying myself with something so important that I cannot remember exactly what I was doing.

It began with a message that there was something amiss at Eastham Bridge but I suspected something and nothing.

But a look at the twitter feed from Tenbury Fire Station jolted me out of my quiet afternoon.

The photograph showed that there had been a dramatic incident and my instincts went into play such that within minutes I was speaking to an eye witness who had watched in horror as the 220 year old Grade II listed bridge collapsed into the River Teme below.

Fortunately, it fairly quickly became clear that I was dealing with a serious and spectacular incident that would be very costly and cause great inconvenience for a long time but not a terrible tragedy.

At the time that the bridge collapsed it was being used to ferry children in mini buses from Lindridge School to the village. Two buses were on their way to the bridge when it fell but fortunately were able to stop.

It causes a shiver just to think about what we could have been dealing with but for the good fortune that had no one on the bridge at the time.

So what caused a bridge that allegedly was inspected last December and that we are told is inspected up to any beyond the required standards to fall down on a calm spring afternoon?

A promise had been made that there will be a full investigation and it is probably wrong to speculate about the cause but in the absence of hard facts it is inevitable that people will do so.

We have heard nothing to suggest that the bridge had been hit and given the time of the year and weather the water level in the river was neither high nor fast flowing.

Speculation seems to swirl around whether on the days and of hours’ before it collapsed, the bridge had been used by heavy lorries carrying stone for a road project.

There may, of course, be no link between the lorries and the collapse although people are entitled to be surprised that a bridge built 220 years ago to carry no more than a heavily loaded farm cart had no weight restriction.

Villagers were concerned about the heavy vehicles using the village. Did they report their concerns and was anything done about them?

Another person living in the area has commented on the amount of vegetation growing in the bridge raising a question as to if this could have undermined the structure.

Was the inspection at the end of last year adequate and were problems with the bridge missed?

At a time when local authorities and the Police are under pressure from Government cuts that go not just to the bone but into bone were any corners cut to save money?

These are all questions that need to be addressed.

There is also the question about how suitable historic bridges are as modern day highways.

Fate can be terribly cruel but on this occasion it has let us off with a warning in that thankfully no one was hurt but it is a warning that must not be ignored.