A family who say heavy freight trains are shaking their home to its foundations claim a Railtrack inspector joked they needed an exorcist to fix the problem.

Jeff and Winn Kane, who have lived next to the East Coast Main Line for the last ten years, say cracks have appeared all over the house since repairs were carried out on the track last year.

The nightly vibrations are so bad they have nailed one of their son's beds to the wall and have compiled a daily log of the sleep-disrupting rail traffic.

Jeff, a prison health care officer, said that since the post-Hatfield crash track repair work was carried out, sleep patterns at their detached County Durham home have been severely disrupted.

He said: "We told the inspector we had a problem with our bed shaking every night and he said it sounded like we needed an exorcist.

"If he had come in and listened to us with an open mind it might have been funny. But he dismissed everything we said so it wasn't."

The Kanes, who live in Winchester Road, Newton Hall, near Durham City, say they are used to the sound of trains thundering past their house - indeed the couple were brought up near railway tracks in Morpeth, Northumbria.

But since re-alignment work was carried out in 2001 the vibrations from freight trains, mainly on the farthest, southbound track, have made night times unbearable.

Mr Kane added: "I've had to re-point outside bricks, re-hang bedroom doors and I now have to sleep in one of my son's beds because he couldn't stand the shaking. He now shares a bed with his mother."

A spokeswoman for Railtrack said she had spoken to the inspecting team in question and they denied making the exorcist remark.

She added: "They sent out one of their inspection team to look at the house and the nearby track, but could find no fault with the track.

She added: "We do not have control of the freight companies or the weights they transport. But the track is inspected by us on a weekly basis and was found to be fine."

She added the company would contact the operating companies asking them to make their own investigations.