A ROW has broken out over the constant drone of a fan at Ipswich Hospital.Residents on the Australia estate have now launched a petition to get something done about the hum.

A ROW has broken out over the constant drone of a fan at Ipswich Hospital.

Residents on the Australia estate have now launched a petition to get something done about the hum.

The source of their misery is a fan from the hospital incinerator owned by White Rose environmental.

During the warm weather residents in the area want to enjoy their gardens and open window but claim the constant buzz is preventing them doing so.

Andrew Garrard from Melbourne Road said: "It is like the sound of being in a wind tunnel.

"Melbourne Road is right opposite the hospital complex and we are right in line with the chimney.

"You just can't enjoy the peace and quiet of the garden anymore and can even hear it out of the front of the house."

Mr Garrard runs his business from home and is constantly aware of the noise.

He said: "Once you become aware of it, it is difficult to block it out.

"People from the council came round and tried to take the noise levels but they had died down at that point.

"The trouble is that it is 24 hours a day, seven days a week – sometimes it dies down and other times it is very loud."

Kevin Silburn, from Melbourne Road has lived in the area for around 30 years.

He said: "I first noticed the noise back in April.

"As soon as they put stuff in the incinerator the noise starts up again.

"It is a constant noise day and night."

Residents in the area have been told that the fans will be included in a maintenance report on 20 September but have no guarantees that it will be fixed.

However Terry Hewitt, the Kent-based operations director of White Rose Environmental said that a silencer is due to be fitted on the fan as soon as possible.

He said: "We are aware of some of the complaints that have been made about the noise.

"We have taken noise readings from around the area where the residents are living."

Mr Hewitt said the noise readings taken was not above the noise levels that the houses suffer from the road in between the hospital and the homes.

He said: "We are confident we are not doing any damage to people from a health and safety point of view.

"But we are going to put in a silencer on the main fan within the next six weeks which is being manufactured now."

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