The Prison Service Escort Service and Offaly County Council are investigating how a prison van containing two prisoners got stuck under an aqueduct outside Edenderry after the District Court sitting yesterday.
Prison officers and gardaí had to deflate the tyres to reverse the truck from under the single-lane aqueduct on the Edenderry to Rathangan road. The van was returning to the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.The road was impassable for about an hour.
The sign indicating the 2.8-metre height restriction was facing the wrong way. Senior engineer with Offaly County Council Charlie McCarthy said there should have been adequate signage, but if it had been tampered with the council would rectify the problem.