A COMPANY has spoken out after fed-up residents shared how they were kept up by a banging manhole cover sounding like ‘gunshots’.
Homeowners in Kempsey claimed it is like living next to a metal factory every time lorries or cars drive over the loose road surface cover.
The sound can be heard ’24/7′ as vehicles pass over the BT-owned cover on A38 Main Road – a road that is often used by hundreds of vehicles daily.
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Residents first told the Worcester News they were being kept awake by the issue that has plagued their streets since February.
In response, an Openreach spokesperson said: “We’ve been made aware of a noisy chamber cover on the A38 and we’re sorry it’s disturbing local residents.
“We’re getting the cover replaced as soon as possible.”
Every time a vehicle passes over it on the A38 Main Road in Kempsey, the metal cover makes a “loud noise” that can be heard several streets away. (Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
The clattering noise is so loud it can be heard inside people’s homes, with many complaining of being woken up early by the metal crashing sound.
Retired secretary Sally Linsey says she can hear it despite being the next road along and claims it sounds like ‘gunshots’ every morning.
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The 83-year-old said: “I’m not exactly next to it, I’m the next road along, but I can hear it.
“People going over it, lorries, tractors, wagons at all hours, it makes such a noise that you can even hear indoors.
Noisy manhole cover in Kempsey Village in Worcestershire keeps residents awake. (Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
“It’s loud and very heavy, it does sound like gunshots when it gets going.
“It then wakes me up in the morning, around 6am, which isn’t ideal.
“You have to try and keep the windows closed to try and reduce the noise.
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George Beck, 48, says he has to sleep with earplugs in and says nothing has been fixed in months despite complaining to Worcester County Council.
The dad-of-three, who works as an ambulance technician, said: “I only live a couple of hundred metres, I’m not the closest to it, but I can hear it from my bedroom. If I don’t have my earplugs in, I can hear it clear as day.
“Sometimes it doesn’t get hit and you think it’s been sorted, but then a lorry or a tractor will go over and set it off.
“It sounds like a metal press or a busy factory down your road.
“When you’re right close to it, it’s properly loud.”
Councillor Martin Allen said he had been trying to get the issue sorted for months.
He said: “It’s not good enough.
“I’ve gone to the trouble of getting the press, residents, and Severn Trent out here to find out Highways didn’t check properly and it’s a BT cover.
“The fight continues.”
