A van driver was left “badly shaken” after an object, believed to be a brick, was thrown from a bridge and hit his moving vehicle.

East Anglian Daily Times: A car was stuck by a rock thrown from a bridge on the A14 between Stowmarket and Needham Market in March 2013A car was stuck by a rock thrown from a bridge on the A14 between Stowmarket and Needham Market in March 2013

The driver was travelling southbound on the A12 at Stanway today at about 8.15am, when he noticed a figure on the footbridge moments before the object hit his windscreen at eye-level, shattering the glass.

Investigating officer, Pc Allan Discombe, said: “The driver was lucky that the windscreen was strong enough to take the impact. Had the object been bigger and had he been driving faster he could have been seriously injured.

“Throwing anything at traffic, especially fast-moving traffic on a dual carriageway, is extremely reckless and dangerous.

“The driver could have lost control and crashed into other vehicles and there could have been serious injuries or fatalities.”

The southbound carriageway was closed while police carried searched for the object around the bridge between junction 27 and 28 but nothing was found.

The footbridge is known locally as King Cole Bridge as it leads to nearly King Cole Road. The suspect was described as a white youth aged about 14 to 18. He was wearing a baseball cap.

Pc Discombe is asking for drivers and pedestrians who were in the area around 8.15am to call Stanway road policing office on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

• In 2011 there was a similar incident when concrete was dropped from a bridge onto a passing car and in 2012 there was a spate of incidents along the A14.