More than 250 Oxford residents refused last night to be railroaded into having a mountain of concrete dumped on their doorstep.

Railtrack wants to build an industrial depot handling rock at Hinksey Sidings, next to Hinksey Lake in south Oxford.

It does not need planning permission to build the ballast handling point, but has agreed to consult residents as part of its environment and good neighbours policy.

Representatives from Railtrack addressed protesters at a two-hour public meeting in St Ebbe's School, Whitehouse Road, and took part in a heated question-and-answer session.

Residents were concerned that the ballast site would mean noise from lorries and dust blowing off the concrete. They believed the rock-pile would also be an eyesore, blocking their view of the dreaming spires. Project manager Peter Heubeck said: "The assurance we can give is that we are going to do everything we can to make this activity as unobtrusive as possible.

"There won't be a dust problem because the site will be damped down. There will be some noise but we will try to keep it to a minimum."

He added that residents were being fully consulted about Railtrack's plans for the site.

But those attending the meeting claimed preparatory work was already under way.

A spokesman for the Hinksey Friends' Protection Group, said: "This will cause dust and noise just a short distance away from Hinksey Pool. It will have a terrible impact on the community and we will fight it all the way."

Gerard Ledger, secretary of the Grandpont Residents' Committee, added: "The city council recently invested £1m in Hinksey Pool. That investment should not be wasted."

Oxford city councillor Bill Baker, who represents South ward, added: "People have a right to be concerned because this is a diabolical scheme."

Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said the site was on the border of his constituency, but residents were writing to him to express their concerns. He said: "I can't believe there isn't a better location for this. The issue has prompted concerns about noise and health. People are also worried that the view of Oxford's skyline will be affected."

Railtrack says the ballast stockpile, used for shoring up Rail lines, will be 340m long and a height of 4.5m.

The company has promised to grow trees to screen the site from view.

It considered three alternative sites at Reading, Swindon and Didcot, but Hinksey was chosen because the others were too small.

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