Council pays £2,000 for Devon church bells to ring again

Witheridge Parish Council has now paid £2000 for the mechanism to be adjusted so it only chimes in the day

A church clock in north Devon, which was silenced in December after a noise complaint, is chiming once again.

Villagers in Witheridge were upset when North Devon Council served a noise abatement notice after complaints about the quarter-hourly chimes overnight.

Witheridge Parish Council has paid £2,000 for the mechanism to be adjusted so it rings hourly from 07:00 to 23:00.

Vicar Reverend Adrian Wells said the clock bells had been ringing for about 150 years.

He said: "Its original purpose was to call people in from their work in the fields, so I accept it is probably quite loud, but I have got used to it.

"I think the work of the parish council to fit a silencer is a good compromise because the bell can ring during the daytime and be silent at night.

"It is lovely to have the chimes and bells back during the day, the clock is a real focal point for the village."

North Devon Council said the noise level from the clock bell was assessed by officers of the Environmental Protection Team.

It said: "They considered the loudness, the frequency and duration of the noise - it was considered that the chime every 15 minutes was likely to wake or disturb the sleep of the complainant and other residents nearby.

"The council has been contacted by other residents expressing disappointment at the silencing of the clock bells.

"However, most of these were not in close proximity to the bells and unlikely to be significantly impacted by the noise."

Resident David Gale said they would have to "settle" on the bells ringing in the day rather than not at all.

"It is disappointing when we see all these little traditions that we have got used to over a long period of time to be eroded by some of these laws that were developed in the modern era," he said.