For decades, lonely railwaymen have occupied a signal box to monitor Steventon’s two level crossings and keep the residents of the village safe.

The crossings in The Causeway and Stocks Lane are the only ones in the country in a residential area on a high-speed line.

But now the signal box in The Causeway looks set to be abandoned as Network Rail plans for staff to monitor the crossings remotely from Swindon.

Parish clerk Angela Einon said: “We think it is safer to have the crossings monitored locally by a member of staff in the signal box and want the system to remain the same.

“Network Rail were planning to bring in the change by December 5 but I hope we can persuade them not to.”

At present, the two crossings in The Causeway, Steventon, and in Stocks Lane, are operated 24 hours a day by a crossing keeper in a signal box in The Causeway.

The keeper already uses CCTV to monitor the Stocks Lane crossing from the signal box, but Network Rail plans to monitor both via CCTV from Swindon.

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey met 150 villagers last month to discuss the proposed change and has urged Network Rail to hold more consultation.

South Oxfordshire and Vale district councils joint chief executive David Buckle said in a letter to Network Rail: “Steventon village is almost unique in being bisected by a high-speed railway line that can only be traversed by a level crossing.

“I am not convinced that Network Rail has taken into account the particular local circumstances sufficiently in developing its plan to date and I would urge you to do so.”

Network Rail spokesman Mavis Choong said the equipment at both crossings would soon be “life-expired”. She added: “The upgrade will also be essential to prepare the railway in the area for electrification, which is due to start in a couple of years’ time.”