Railway companies could face legal action unless they stop using ear-splitting horns fitted to a new generation of trains.

The Brighton-based Noise Abatement Society (NAS) wants the horns silenced at night while tests are carried out as the first step to an outright ban.

Director Peter Wakeham said his group was considering legal action against train operating companies if Brighton and Hove City Council failed to silence the deafening hooters.

He said: "It is the worst noise pollutant inflicted on people for many years. It must be like having a stiletto heel pushed down your ear living near that track."

The NAS has been inundated with complaints since trains fitted with the louder horns began operating six months ago.

Children from the Seven Dials area gathered outside Brighton station in their pyjamas in March to protest about the noise.

The NAS has written to the council asking what action it intended to take, and urged the authority to use the powers it has to reduce noise nuisance to stop the horns being sounded between 11pm and 7am.

The group's solicitor Heidi Copland said: "What we are trying to do is put some pressure on them to take it seriously and tackle the problem.

"It has taken a long time to convince them it should be taken seriously."

The new horns are more than twice as loud as those fitted to old-style slam door trains, which are being phased out of service. Safety regulations drawn up 25 years ago require horns of 120 decibels, roughly as loud as a jet engine or rock concert.

The council said it had conducted tests in the last few days and would do more monitoring but figures were not yet available.

A spokeswoman said noise nuisance diaries kept by people affected had been sent to a barrister to get an opinion on what action the authority was able to take.

She said: "We have always taken it seriously but because it is an extremely complex area of the law, which involves a number of different parties and a significant number of complainants, it is taking time to resolve it."

South Central, which operates the new trains on Sussex routes, insists the volume of the new horns is within safety limits.

Rail watchdogs have told operating companies not to sound the horns at night, and to use a so-called soft tone at stations. Mr Wakeham said the rules were not being obeyed by operators.

Councils have powers to issue individual train operators with a noise abatement notice under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act.

Monday June 9, 2003