Upset at noisy drain cover on busy Eastbourne road

But Southern Water, which is responsible for the drain cover, says it will be at least two weeks before it can close part of Kings Drive to repair it.

The angry residents say they have been reporting the loose cover, at the junction of Kings Drive and Kings Avenue, and the subsequent noise ‘morning, noon and night’ to Southern Water for the last five weeks and nothing has been done.

Alison Townshend, who lives in Kings Avenue, said, “We are all fed up with it. We keep ringing and complaining to Southern Water and they have been out to look at it, but that’s all they have done. We want it fixed. It makes the most dreadful sound all hours of the day and night and we want it sorted. It’s keeping us all awake at night too. It’s just so noisy.”

Southern Water said in a statement to the Herald this week that the company sympathised with the residents but it would be December 20 before they could make repairs.

A spokesperson said, “We’re very sorry for the noise and inconvenience caused by this manhole cover.

“To enable us to carry out repair work safely, three-way lights are needed and this requires us to give the local highways authority 21 days’ notice.

“Our initial plans to do the repairs were rejected because of insufficient road space, but we’ve now been given the green light to fix the cover at the next available opportunity on December 20.

“We thank those living nearby for their patience.”