WET weather has temporarily stopped work on a soil barrier being built on a Kempsey farm to deaden the noise of the M5 motorway.

But farmer Richard Williams said the huge bank of soil, now two-thirds complete, had already reduced the disturbance experienced by his family at Napleton Farm, Kempsey.

He was granted permission to build the bund, 150 yards long and about 15ft high, last March, after telling planners how motorway noise disturbed his family's sleep and prevented them from enjoying their garden.

The 38-year-old farmer had lived there all his life, but said the noise had grown worse since the motorway was widened in the early 1990s.

Environmental health officers suggested a soil bund planted with trees would reduce the noise by at least 50 per cent and by up to 75 per cent.

"It is difficult to judge, because it is not complete, but we have noticed specific improvements since the bund went up," said Mr Williams. "We can still hear the motorway, but the intense roar has gone.

"I expect other people in Kempsey are benefiting too, although they might not be aware of it, because it will have been a gradual improvement as the bund has been built.

"It's like any noise disturbance - if you turn music up, people hear it, but if you turn it down, they don't notice."

He could not say whether it would be weeks or months before the work was finished, but bad weather and shorter days could delay completion until the spring.

"We are trying not to disturb the lanes too much with mud, which is a problem at this time of the year," he said.

n West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer has asked for trees and hedges along the M50 motorway to be reinstated, after complaints from residents in Upper Strensham.

"This screening helped block out the noise of the motorway and noise levels are now much higher," said Sir Michael.

"I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency, Archie Robertson, to ensure that the missing screening is replaced."