A legal executive staged an angry protest against a train cleaning depot.

Marguerite Whitehurst stood in front of a lorry delivering asphalt to the site at Hove station and refused to move.

Her husband Norman parked his car across the entrance to the new depot to prevent the lorry from unloading.

The stand-off lasted 20 minutes until Mrs Whitehurst won agreement from rail bosses over construction work being carried out there.

Mrs Whitehurst is freeholder of the building closest to the entrance of the site in Hove Park Villas, Hove.

She has already begun legal action against Southern Trains, alleging they are in breach of the Party Wall Act.

The legislation prevents any work being carried out within 6m of the property without her written consent.

Mrs Whitehurst claims the rail company has repeatedly broken agreements not to do any work within 6m until surveyors on both sides have inspected her property.

She and her husband dashed to the site after being told contractors were digging up the pavement outside the building yesterday.

They were joined by Lucy Molsom, owner of one of the flats in the building, who fears the work has affected the value of her home.

Mrs Whitehurst said: "Southern keeps agreeing not to do any work within 6m of my wall. The very next day the agreement is broken by work being carried out within that limit.

"They have carried out excavations and have fixed a heavy wooden gate to the wall at the entrance to the site. I have already instructed solicitors to take this up with Southern, but if this continues I will have to seriously consider taking out an injunction against them."

Miss Molsom, 35, a customer services advisor with energy company EDF, said: "I bought my flat five years ago and it was a quiet place to live. Now I get woken at 3am by workmen on the site - and that is even before the cleaning depot has opened.

"I bought the flat as an investment for £46,000 and it should now be worth around £140,000. I don't think it will be worth anything like that because nobody wants to live next to a noisy train cleaning depot."

Mrs Whitehurst agreed to let the lorry unload its asphalt after speaking to rail bosses.

She said: "They agreed again not to do any more work within 6m until they have served Party Wall Act papers and our surveyors have inspected the site."