NEIGHBOURS need better protection from noise nuisance after machinery kept them up all night for days as a critic brands the existing system 'toothless' because no enforcement action was taken.

Sleep-deprived residents complained of five consecutive days of noise nuisance at Blackpole Retail Park in Worcester, owned by Legal and General.

The resurfacing work involved heavy equipment including strippers, rollers and diggers with some residents nearby complaining the work continued on some nights until 4am.

Matt Brown, 61, of Salters Close, near the retail park, described it at the time as 'all hell breaking loose', the noise as 'horrendous' and the retail park's leaders as behaving 'as though residents didn't exist'.

Now Edward Kimberley, one of this year's city council candidates for Warndon and Elbury Park, has called for action to give Worcestershire Regulatory Services more powers to address the disturbance in future.

The activist said: "The law must be made fit for purpose. In the first week of February, residents living near to Elgar Retail Park were disturbed by overnight resurfacing work which took place over five consecutive nights.

"Neither the estate management team nor its contractors made any effort to contact residents to forewarn them. No effort was made to mitigate the atrocious levels of noise."

Councillor Jill Desayrah, a serving Warndon Labour councillor, contacted Worcestershire Regulatory Services to query whether there would be enforcement action taken against the retail estate but was told no.

Cllr Desayrah said: "As Ed and I heard during our recent meeting with their officers, WRS lacks the tools, resources and power it needs to enforce noise rules against rogue contractors.

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"They can serve a notice to stop the works but they have no power to enforce it if ignored. And to prosecute, WRS needs ironclad evidence.

"By the time such evidence has been gathered, the work is complete and the damage done. And should WRS try to prosecute a case retrospectively, there's always a risk of failure, which would come at a huge financial cost to local government."

Ed Kimberley attended the scene of the resurfacing works at Elgar Retail Estate at the beginning of February.

He said: "That's the part which makes me so angry. Our laws are so weak that our local regulator is practically toothless. They can act against noisy householders with badly behaved dogs, but can apparently do nothing about companies keeping children awake on a school night."