I am glad Tony Hartley, of Helmside Road, Oxenholme, slept soundly during the recent middle of the night railway works, (Letters, March 3, 'In defence of pile driving'). However, many of his neighbours did not and are puzzled by his defence of Network Rail.

Noise nuisance affects different people in different ways. Many of those disturbed by the noise have young children to care for or work the next day to consider, so do not share Mr Hartley's 'cest la vie' attitude.

These works involved a large industrial and unprotected pile driver striking metal on metal repeatedly between 2am and 6am on two successive Sunday mornings. Yet as the Gazette rightly reported, genuine complaints to Network Rail fell on deaf ears.

Few in Oxenholme object to vital work being carried out and obligingly accept it year round. But this this level of disturbance was far in excess of what we should meekly tolerate. Indeed, complaints about the noise have reached me from as far away as Natland, Old Hutton and Sedgwick.

Most residents I know are grateful to local residents Lizzii Nicholas and Stephen Warner for their determination in getting this matter resolved.

Had it not been for the swift intervention of South Lakeland District Council's environmental health protection team, who heard our recordings - and prominent exposure of this issue in the Gazette - this anti-social racket would have gone on every Sunday morning for weeks.

SLDC did not believe the noise to be industrially acceptable and found no industry standard noise-mitigating measures in place. In short, in the face of widespread complaints, Network Rail would have pressed on with this work with little regard for who it disturbed, providing that the job got done.

People who have lived in Oxenholme far longer than the 27 years Mr Hartley has been a resident say the noise was louder than any other they have heard during any previous rail works.

This is why SLDC ordered a broad range of noise mitigation and monitoring measures for this specific type of work - which has worked.

It also needs to go on record how swiftly South Lakeland District Council moved to act on complaints.

So while this noise may not have personally affected Mr Hartley, he needs to consider that Oxenholme is a community of neighbours, not just individuals.

Ellis Butcher

Oxenholme