Railway workers fear their jobs and rail safety are at risk.

The engineers believe their jobs will end when their company National Railway Supplies (NRS), based in Crewe, transfers work done at the Lover's Walk depot in Brighton to York.

The managing director of NRS Cliff Webb said no decision had been made and the company was just undergoing a review of all its operations, including Brighton.

Mr Webb said: "We have just signed a new contract in the South of England and have been recruiting in the Brighton area to fulfil that contract.

"The Brighton staff are being too pessimistic. We may decide to move to Crewe or York.

"The bi-directional trolley, which is made at Brighton, is selling very well at the moment."

Work done by the NRS, which makes track testing and safety equipment, has been based at Brighton for more than 50 years.

A Brighton railway worker said: "We are concerned for the future.

"We have been told the company wants to move the Brighton operations to York and recruit new staff.

"There is a lot of experience here and there are genuine fears about safety on the railway if an experienced team, which has identified faults in tracks, is broken up."

A bi-directional trolley is pushed along the line by railway workers to test the state of the track.

Months before the Hatfield disaster, the machine had identified flaws in the track at Hatfield.

Speed restrictions were replaced on similar track across the rail network following the disaster and a huge track inspection programme was instigated, which increased demand for the trolley.