No sleep for residents due to noise pollution

According to a number of residents, vehicles are being heard late at night driving through Southdown Road, and around to Southwick Square, where the engine noise can be heard up to 100 yards away.

The noise is keeping people awake at night and disturbing ‘children that have to get up and go to school’.

Joanne Heard, 47, who lives in Southwick Square, said: “My daughter is doing her GCSEs and she’s having to go into school with a lack of sleep. It has been a bit of a nightmare and I have got two children up night after night.”

Ian Wright, 74, of Southdown Road, agreed and said: “It is always in the evening and sometimes it goes on until late at night until 2.30am. The noise sounds like sporting motorbikes. It takes place in the supermarket car park at night next to the shops.

“It makes me very annoyed. It is noise pollution and it is disturbing our sleep. It is a nuisance and nobody should be doing that.”

Southwick district councillor Peter Metcalfe described the actions as those by ‘mindless yobs’.

“This almost continuous harassment of Southwick residents is putting their health and wellbeing at risk,” he said. “It is caused by mindless yobs who think it is clever to race around the car park, rev their bike and car engines to the max.

“They sound their horns, play boom boom music to the max, shout, and kick footballs against the wall, to name a few things. Residents are woken up between 11pm and 3am and can’t get back to sleep.”

Council cabinet minister for anti-social behaviour David Simmons is encouraging people who have concerns to put it to Operation Crackdown to build up a ‘wall of evidence’.

“We have made contact with a number of residents in distress with sleep deprivation,” he said. “This is something we need to resolve.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said routine patrols have been asked to direct attention to the area, but urged people who witness this anti-social behaviour to take registration numbers and report them. This can be done by visiting webcontact.sussex.police.uk/ASDPRS/, emailing [email protected] or calling 101.

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