A FERNHILL Heath woman is “heartbroken” after a train sprayed weed killer into her garden, killing half the plants.

Wendy Filby, of Station Road, believes Network Rail sprayed her garden on Sunday, June 26, while trying to tackle trackside weeds.

“I could have cried with what they have done. Our runner beans, blueberries, raspberries and rhubarb are all totally ruined,” she said.

“It’s not the price of the seeds, it’s the time invested. The cost of planting, weeding, digging, watering and putting up nets to stop the pigeons.

“It’s unacceptable, the crops are now shrivelled up and brown. It’s heart breaking.”

Ms Filby, 72, said Network Rail told her the spraying was necessary to kill weeds growing on the sides of the line.

“You can see the weeds are still growing on the sides of the track, they don’t get them. They can’t pin point who did it either,” she said.

Ms Filby thinks the weed killer was sprayed from a moving train at night and passed through her open fence.

Ms Filby has lived in Station Road for 14 years and first realised Network Rail were spraying weed killer in 2014.

After a raft of complaints in 2014, Network Rail sent compensation forms to residents and asked them for seed receipts as proof.

Ms Filby said: “It’s no use sending me a compensation form, it exacerbates me. I just want someone from Network Rail to look at the problem.”

The spray reached 2 metres inside Ms Filby’s garden and has resulted in the loss of at least £50 worth of crops.

A Network Rail spokesman declined to comment but said they were aware of the complaint and are investigating.