Barbican residents want Linklaters' generator moved

Barbican residents protest outside Linklaters' offices

City of London residents say a power generator is causing them nausea and headaches from the fumes it pumps out.

People living in Cromwell Tower on the Barbican estate are calling on Linklaters to remove the unit on Silk Street before more people are affected.

Linklaters said its office lost power last month and hopes to resolve the issue "as soon as possible".

Residents have contacted City of London which says it is working with the firm to resolve the power outage.

The firm's offices lost power due to its transformer failing on 27 March.

Sarah Stobbs, who has lived in Cromwell Tower for 14 years, described the situation as "not liveable", adding residents are bearing the burden of Linklaters' emergency.

At a protest outside Linklaters' offices on Tuesday, the 52-year-old said her family came back from holiday to find the generator running and their flat full of fumes.

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She contacted the City's environmental health team, who she said acknowledged the issue and indicated they would work with Linklaters to resolve the issue.

"They don't want to work from home because it would be inconvenient," she said. "They are prioritising their convenience over the health of their neighbours."

The generator at the heart of the debate

Ms Stobbs added a new transformer for the Linklaters tower is expected to take 16 weeks to be installed.

"This means we won't be able to open our windows all summer," she said. "This is not liveable."

A Linklaters spokesperson said: "We have been working with City of London environmental health department and the Barbican Residents' Association to try and minimise and mitigate the impact of our temporary generator on local residents while we work to restore mains electricity to our building.

"As a result of these discussions, we have moved the generator, which is running on biofuel, to a new location further along Silk Street and reduced its operating hours. We hope to resolve our power outage as soon as possible."

A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: "We take noise and pollution complaints extremely seriously.

"Linklaters... continue to explore what further improvements can be made."

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