HUNDREDS of residents living near a rail line will have to put up with noisy nightime work every weekend until spring.

Network Rail has defended a decision to spend every weekend for the next three months carrying out engineering work and cutting back vegetation on a one- mile long railway cutting bisecting a North-East suburb.

Work will begin at 11pm each Saturday and finish at 7.30am the following day.

Residents living near the main Eaglescliffe station to North-allerton and York line have received advanced written warning of the "critical'' work.

The letter from Network Rail states: "This work is necessary to ensure the continued safe running and operation of the railway.

"Regrettably, the work may be noisy at times, but please be assured that we do appreciate the inconvenience that the work may cause and will endeavour to reduce the impact on yourself to a minimum.''

The letter adds: "Please appreciate vegetation clearance is noisy work, but is required.''

A spokesman for Network Rail said the maintenance work had to be carried out during periods when there were no trains running.

This had been reinforced by the death last month of a 62-year-old maintenance worker, who had been carrying out engineering work for Network Rail and was clearing up at the end of his shift when he was hit by a train travelling at 60mph, near Reading.

In March, a welder carrying out track repairs near Crawley, Sussex, had to leap for his life, with only seconds to spare as a train from Brighton to Watford sped past.

The Network Rail spokesman said: "We try to keep the lines clear. We have to do this work when the railway is closed and we only have a narrow window of opportunity when the railway is closed with no trains running.

"We have to ensure the safety of passengers and also the safety of our workforce. We take the safety of our workforce very seriously and we have to make sure we do any work safely and make sure no trains are running.''

An Eaglescliffe resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I fully appreciate track workers can only work safely when there are no trains running, but every weekend throughout January, February and March for a one- mile long cutting?

"We are talking about Teesside, not the Amazon rainforest. What are they using to cut back the vegetation, manicure scissors ?"