A CITY dock entrance will remain closed until Tuesday after it was hit by a lorry.

The bottom of the grade-two listed archway, which marks the entrance to Dock Gate 10, was struck by a tall load as it attempted to pass under the structure on Wednesday.

The gate was closed around noon, and was expected to reopen by 6pm the next day, but DP World Southampton tweeted yesterday to confirm it would not re-open until 6am on November 20.

Small vehicles were instead directed to Dock Gate 8, and will continue to do so, with container traffic now entering via Dock Gate 20, just off the Millbrook Roundabout which is undergoing a major £8.3 million improvement project.

A spokesperson for ABP said: “Dock Gate 10 at the Port of Southampton is currently closed after being hit by an extra-large vehicle.

“We have had a structural engineer assess the damage and we’re planning the first phase of repair work at the moment.

“We hope to have this entrance to the port back open in the next few days.

“In the meantime, Dock Gate 8, as well as Dock Gate 20, will remain open until repairs are complete and access to the Eastern Dock is as normal. We are working with our partners at the port to ensure that any disruption is as minimal as possible.”

A DP World Southampton spokesperson said: “The traffic for DP World Southampton’s container terminal comes in and out of dock gate 20 usually. The closure of dock gate 10 should have minimal effect on our haulage customers who will continue to follow the dock gate 20 diversions routes in light of the Millbrook roundabout upgrade.”

Williams Shipping, whose lorry it was that hit the archway, confirmed that the whole incident is being investigated, including an interview of the driver.

According to Historic England, which preserves and lists historic buildings, the gate was built between 1933 and 1934 by the Southern Railway Company.

The archway, along with its sister structure over the entrance for Dock Gate 8, was developed in the early 1930s.