residents are to ask a rail maintenance firm to demonstrate apparatus to be used in a phase of track work.

Two large machines are being brought in by contractors Jarvis next month to bed new rails at Eaglescliffe.

Residents' spokeswoman Jane Orton wants the firm to stage a daylight run to give neighbours a sample of what they are in for during over-night working.

She said people could then judge whether they wanted to find somewhere else to sleep while the machines were in operation.

When a couple from Eaglescliffe were forced to go to a hotel with their three small children recently because of thje noise, Jarvis paid the bill.

The company is to meet residents tomorrow following complaints about the work.

Advice centre worker Mrs Orton said: "We are going to try and have a get together before the meeting to discuss strategy.

"What I intend to suggest is Jarvis put on a demonstration in the daylight so people can see what the noise would be like. They must have some sort of training area.''

The company has said it takes the concerns seriously and admitted the residents of Railway Terrace, Eaglescliffe, "have got it in the neck".

The company said that it was doing everything it could to keep noise to a minimum, working to an agreed code of practice.