A NEW gate system along a Worcester canal towpath is driving residents to despair because it is so noisy.

People living in Lowell Street, Arboretum, say they are regularly woken up at night when the gates close with a loud clang.

One resident, Connie Davis, estimates she was woken more than a dozen times on Tuesday night, the day after installation began.

But the city council has defended the £6,000 it has spent.

Engineers are now looking at ways of modifying the clasps so they close with a dull thud instead of a clang.

And it has appealed to residents to be patient after discovering one of the gate clasps had been vandalised.

Mrs Davis, aged 50, said she was fed up with the racket made by the gates as they shut.

"You get courting couples coming along here late at night. Never mind does the earth move for you, the whole house vibrates!" she said.

"The original gates were perfectly adequate, so what was the point of replacing them?

"Now we have kids on motorbikes coming along here, because they can get through.

There's a chance a little child could be knocked down."

Residents are also concerned the gates are unwieldy, causing problems for wheelchair users and mothers with prams.

Andy Rickman, assistant traffic management officer, said the new gates - which replaced nine sheep-pen style gates - were intended to make life easier for people.

"Yes, you could lift your bike over, but not everyone is an Arnold Schwarzenegger," he added.

"These gates have been designed for people with impaired mobility, such as wheelchair users, but also people with prams and cyclists. You now get an opening of up to 1.5m as opposed to 90cm before.

"We are looking at modifying the clasps so you do not get the loud vibration when it shuts.

"But people must understand if they continue to damage the gates, there will not be money in the budget to repair them."

Mr Rickman said the council had not received any complaints from police about motor vehicles on the pathway.