Neighbours whose homes back on to a railway line say they are being kept awake by trains left with their motors running.

People who live near Hove station have already fought a battle with train companies over noisy horns disturbing their slumber.

Now residents whose properties in Wilbury Avenue back on to the railway track say they are suffering sleepless nights because of motors left ticking over.

And their fears that a mini-depot could be created in Hove have been confirmed by South Central.

Liver transplant patient Eileen Anderson, 54, is battling to get the motors - compressors which power the lighting and heating on the trains - turned off.

Mrs Anderson said: "Everything was fine until I had my transplant last September.

"I was in hospital for a month and when I came home I noticed a 12-carriage train was being parked overnight at the station three or four nights a week. Trains that length have three motors and they were left on all night with the carriage lights on.

"The noise of the motors is very intrusive."

Mrs Anderson said when she complained to South Central it was agreed the lights and motors would be turned off except when staff were working on them.

But she said they would be switched off, only to be turned on again at 6am and left running until the train was driven away up to three hours later.

She said: "They are building an electricity sub-station on this side of the track and my real fear now is that Hove will become a mini-depot."

Neighbour John Brooker said: "It would take a bomb to wake me up at night but my wife Catherine is also losing sleep because of it."

A South Central spokesman said: "We are aware of the problems and can only apologise to the residents of Wilbury Avenue. Because our main depot at Lover's Walk, Brighton, is being refurbished we have to find places to stable our trains at night.

"We have instructed all our drivers to switch the motors off when they leave the trains but they sometimes forget.

"We do plan to use Hove as a mini-depot to stable more trains overnight so the potential for disturbance could increase. But we will continue to stress to our staff the importance of turning the trains off when they are left."