A GIRL was taken to hospital after falling from a motorway bridge over the A56.

The girl, who was said to be around 16-years-old, fell between thirty and forty feet into oncoming traffic, but motorists managed to stop before hitting her.

The teenager had been spotted on the bridge with a group of around five or six youths, and it is believed she may have slipped and fallen onto the motorway.

The incident happened at around 8pm on Saturday night.

Lorry driver Gary Leach had to pull to a halt after seeing her fall.

He said: “I was just approaching the bridge, and being a wagon driver I’m used to kids throwing things off bridges.

“I was watching all the kids on the bridge and thought they’d throw something.

“I saw five or six kids running away, which is normal procedure when they’ve thrown concrete or something off a bridge.

“I saw her fall, it happened so quickly.

“The kids started running, and the man driving in front of me managed to stop with smoke coming off his tyres.

“Two of her friends, two lads, came down the embankment.

“She was obviously knocked out and I think her legs were broken. They took her away in an ambulance, police and paramedics were there within five minutes.”

The road was closed for around half an hour while emergency services dealt with the incident.

A Highways Agency spokesman said the A56 was closed between 7.50pm and 8.24pm between the A680 Woolpack Island and A680 Blackburn Island while police and ambulance crews attended to incident, on the northbound carraigeway.