Residents troubled by mystery overnight noise

Woman troubled by noise.Residents of Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford say they were troubled by a strange high pitched noise in the area last night (Thursday/Friday 13/14th Decemebr).

Reports on Twitter described the noise as “really high pitched” and likened it to “drilling” and “blending”, with many authors complaining that they were unable to get to sleep because of it.

Further comments on the Bradley Stoke Journal Facebook page this morning said the noise sounded like a vacuum cleaner or electric lawnmower.

Locations at which the noise was heard include north and central Bradley Stoke (near the Willow Brook Centre), Baileys Court, Little Stoke and Stoke Gifford.

A couple of people from Bradley Stoke said the noise seemed to be coming from the direction of Parkway Station.

The earliest mention of the issue is timed at around 9pm and the noise is said to have continued with varying intensity until after midnight.

A number of people have commented that they are relieved to have learned that others heard the noise as they originally thought it was coming from electrical appliances in their own homes.

Some of the contributors speculate that the noise might have come from overnight roadworks on the M4 and M5 (associated with the ongoing Managed Motorway project) but others say they live too far from the motorway for that to be the possible source.

According to information published on the Town Council website, overnight roadworks were scheduled to take place last night on the M4 between junctions 19 and 20 and on the M5 southbound to M4 westbound link road.

Work on the M4 began in January and the Highways Agency said it sent letters to all properties within 500m of the motorway to warn the occupiers about possible late night noise.

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5 comments

  1. Could have been roadworks… maybe a generator or something like that? It is surprising how far sound can travel in the relative quiet of the night time.

  2. Loads of comments on this story over on the Bradley Stoke Journal Facebook page:

    http://www.facebook.com/BradleyStokeJournal/posts/122476771248480

    You don’t need a Facebook account to see them!

    If you DO have a Facebook account, don’t forget to LIKE our page. It’s a great way of keeping in touch with everything that’s happening in Bradley Stoke. All our stories are automatically posted to Facebook and we also upload extra material, such as photos, videos and event flyers.

  3. it was probably someone installing some new speed humps and sinking the already sunken manhole covers even deeper in the roads just to meet some year traffic calming target.

  4. In relation to suggestions that the mystery noise may have been coming from overnight roadworks on the motorway, a contact at the construction company carrying out the work told The Journal:

    “I’ve had a chat with the night shift and can advise that on the night of Thursday 13th December we carried out two operations: carriageway joint repairs and white lining. Neither of which create a “high pitched” noise, and certainly wouldn’t have been audible as far away from the carriageway as some have reported.”

    “There is of course the potential for these two operations to cause a slight disturbance, particularly to those living very close to the carriageway, however the noise would not travel far.”

    “Our contact at South Glos Council advised that they’ve not received any reports/complaints from the public, so are also unable to shed any light on the mystery noise.”

    For future reference:

    South Gloucestershire Council – Noise Nuisance

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