Angry residents called police after being kept awake all night by hydraulic machinery operating near the railway line at Hinksey.

They accused Railtrack of moving in heavy machinery on the eve of a crunch council meeting about plans to build a ballast depot in south Oxford.

Residents say hedges were ripped up while machines roared from 2 to 6am yesterday.

Jo Kuszmar, of Marlborough Road, said: "Railtrack claims to be environmentally sensitive and ready to work with the community. But this is what we get - hydraulic machines in the middle of the night and the smashing of hedges."

The work began just hours before Oxfordshire county councillors were due to discuss the legality of Railtrack's plans for a 200,000 tonne ballast stockpile, creating a mountain of stones at Hinksey Sidings.

Residents from New Hinksey and Grandpont, who formed the Stop the Quarry Action Group, say the Sunday morning disturbance amounts to a grim taste of what is to come.

Railtrack spokesman Kate Smith said engineering and vegetation work was often carried out at night so that train services were not interrupted.

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