Ding-dong over church chimes ban... after just one complaint
BELLS at an historic village church have been silenced by council officials after a resident complained about the noise.
For 140 years the clock tower has chimed on the hour. But one person has complained that the noise keeps them
awake at night – and the local authority has issued a noise abatement notice banning it between 11pm and 7am.
Church leaders at All Saints’ Church in Croxley Green, Herts, say the mechanism which strikes the bell cannot be set to operate between specific times so it will have to be deactivated completely to comply with the notice.
It does just one stroke every hour.
The Rev Miriam Mugan said:
“People do sometimes grumble but they generally accept it is a part of village life and get used to it. We are looking at what our options are but we are a church and cannot really bear the cost of an expensive hearing.”
I’ve lived in the village all my life and love to hear the bells ring
An environmental health officer from Three Rivers District Council investigated the lone complaint and concluded
the noise was affecting that person’s ability to sleep.
But the decision has not been welcomed by everyone.
Resident Janet Martin said:
“I’ve lived in the village all my life and love to hear the bells ring. You can hear them throughout the village and it
reminds you that you live in a village – which is lovely. It’s a very important part of village life and I would be very sad to lose them.”
A council spokesman said: “A complaint about noise at night which was disturbing sleep was investigated. We have a legal duty to investigate noise complaints.
"The recipient has 21 days to appeal against the notice.”
In April the Daily Express revealed that the bells at All Saints’ Church, in Wrington, Somerset, had fallen silent
following a single complaint.
As they were also on an automated system, the church was forced to silence them.