AN END is finally in sight for furious Chalford residents who had had to suffer weeks of sleepless nights caused by the sound of chainsaws.

The village has been pushed to the brink during the last month as Network rail carries out emergency maintenance work to stabilise the embankment on the Stroud and Kemble line on Cowcombe Hill.

Multiple chainsaws, chipping machines and log-cutting saws are being used to cut down trees from 11pm until 5am almost every night, leaving hundreds of people unable to sleep and seeking refuge in hotels.

Angry residents have been measuring the decibel levels, which they claim reach 136 – not far off the 140dB created by a jet engine.

Following increasing pressure from the sleep-deprived community, residents, a Stroud District Council Landscape and Trees officer and an environmental health officer met with Network Rail on Monday evening to discuss a way forward.

An agreement has now been reached that after two or three more nights work, maintenance will be postponed until November.

Seville’s Mill resident Adrian Winstanley, who attended the meeting and has been in communication with Network Rail since the disruption began, said he was relieved a compromise had finally been reached.

Nonetheless, he said, there had been a “structural and inherent failure” on the part of Network Rail to consult those affected.

“This does not, of course, absolve Network Rail of blame for their acknowledged complete failure to consult and give timely notice, or for an initial programme of sleep-disruptive works over too many consecutive nights without break,” he said.

“Had they reached out to the community when these plans were being formulated, a huge amount of stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and resultant suffering might have been averted.

“It’s a real shame that we had to endure so many sleepless nights before getting to this point.”

Janey Read, a Chalford resident affected by the noise, called the whole situation “a shambles”.

“These last couple of weeks have been absolute torture,” said Ms Read, 47, who lives on Rack Hill.

“The noise is unbearable and people are suffering sleep deprivation. It has absolutely ruined the summer holidays for a lot of people.”

“It just shows a total lack of consideration towards hundreds of people, and they’ve left a scar on Chalford.”

A Network Rail spokeswoman said that the maintenance work was “urgent” and that the threat posed by the rocks and other debris on the embankment posed a “serious situation.”

“The purpose of our work at Chalford is to stabilise the embankment next to the railway line to prevent rocks and other debris from falling onto the track and affecting the safety of passengers,” she said.

“As safety is our highest priority, the proximity of the work site to the railway line means the stabilisation work can only be carried out when trains aren’t running, which tends to be during the night.

“We apologise to residents for the disruption caused, but for safety reasons it is critical we complete this work in as short a timescale as possible.”