A hapless council worker was 'in for a rollicking' after parking his van too close to a lifting bridge which crushed it when it opened.

The hydraulic road bridge that spans part of Poole Harbour in Dorset is currently closed to traffic for maintenance works.

The unnamed engineer working on the structure parked the Fiat Talento well beyond the red and white safety barrier thinking it was safe to do.

A council worker saw his van crushed in unusual fashion by a hydraulic road bridge in Dorset

The incident happened when he left it too close to the mechanical hinge of the bascule bridge

But he left it too close to the mechanical hinge of the bascule bridge which lifted up to let a passing boat through.

At that moment the hulking steel counterweight on one arm of the bridge swung down on top of the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council van and squashed it.

Luckily the workman was not in the vehicle at the time and was not injured.

But he was overheard by witnesses telling a colleague that he would be in big trouble.

Lee Hebditch, a transport manager at Poole Docks, saw the aftermath of the incident that happened on Wednesday.

Lee, 48, said: 'I was cycling home for lunch I saw the lifting bridge was in the up position.

'As I got closer I could see the white council van parked the other side of the safety barrier.

'The bridge has this solid grid work that acts as a counterweight and that had completely crushed the van.

'I saw a guy who I think was the unlucky workman because I overheard him say he was going to get a good rollicking from his boss. He looked a bit embarrassed about it.

'I think he must have thought that because the bridge was closed to cars he could park well beyond where the safety barrier is and either forgot the bridge was going to open or just parked too close to it.'

The bascule bridge was opening up to let boats sail through below along the Poole Harbour

Gary Powell, head of engineering at BCP Council, said: 'One of our maintenance vans has been severely damaged at Poole lifting bridge.

'The bridge is currently closed for scheduled maintenance works and no one has been injured in this incident.

'The vehicle was recovered and we are moving quickly to assess any possible damage to the bridge.'