PNEUMATIC drills are today driving Jim Adams mad.The Felixstowe barber says he is getting a headache every day as workers spend hours drilling near his shop while they put in place a £47,500 scheme to improve the pavements.
PNEUMATIC drills are today driving Jim Adams mad.
The Felixstowe barber says he is getting a headache every day as workers spend hours drilling near his shop while they put in place a £47,500 scheme to improve the pavements.
But Mr Adams is angry the drilling has gone on for so long, and claims environmental health officers should be taking action to reduce the noise.
He said: “This is the main part of the main shopping street and this work has been going on for weeks and weeks for hours at a time.
“It is incessant and all the shopkeepers in the area are complaining about it.
“It is awful for customers and a nightmare for those of us having to work in these conditions.”
Mr Adams, who runs Jim's Barbers, in Hamilton Road, said action needed to be taken to muffle the noise and he has made an official complaint to Suffolk Coastal District Council.
He said: “This is noise pollution and something ought to be done - we shouldn't have to put up with it.”
The council has sent an officer to investigate if the correct muffler equipment is being used on the drills, and gave Mr Adams forms on which to keep a record of the noise.
A council spokesman said: “We paid a second visit to the site where a team is carrying out work on behalf of the county's highways department.
“We are now seeking advice from the Health and Safety Executive and also the trading standards department before deciding whether there is any further action we can take, or whether there are issues that those organisations should be addressing.”
Contractors are currently digging up the old concrete pavement between the cinema and post office in Hamilton Road and replacing it with block paving.
It is the latest phase in a project which began a few years ago. Much of the town centre has already been paved and the aim is to have the current stretch done before the Christmas shopping season.
It has been paid for by a £25,000 cash injection from Suffolk County Council, £12,000 from Felixstowe Town Council, £7,500 from Suffolk Coastal, and £3,000 from county councillor Ann Rodwell's locality budget.
WEBLINK
www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
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