A FAMILY who say heavy freight trains are shaking their home to its foundations claim a Railtrack inspector joked they needed an exorcist to fix the problem.

The inspection team denies making the remark.

Jeff and Winn Kane, who have lived next to the East Coast Main Line for the past ten years, say cracks have appeared all over the house since repairs were carried out on the track last year.

The vibrations are so bad that they have nailed one of their sons' beds to the wall.

Mr Kane, a prison health care officer, said that since track repairs last year following the Hatfield crash, sleep patterns at their detached County Durham home have been severely disrupted.

He said: "We told the inspector we had a problem with our bed shaking every night and he said it sounded like we needed an exorcist."

"If he had come in and listened to us with an open mind it might have been funny.

"But he dismissed everything we said so it wasn't"

The Kanes, who live in Winchester Road, Newton Hall, near Durham City, say they are used to the sound of trains thundering past their house - the couple were brought up near railway tracks in Morpeth, North-umbria.

Mr Kane said: "I've had to repoint outside bricks, re-hang bedroom doors and I now have to sleep in one of my sons' beds because he couldn't stand the shaking."

A spokeswoman for Railtrack said that she had spoken to the inspecting team in question and that they denied making the exorcist remark.

She said: "The track is inspected by us on a weekly basis and was found to be fine."

She said the company would contact train operating companies asking them to make their own investigations.