Shake, rattle and roll-cage - residents are kept awake

Lorries carrying goods for Somerfield in Devonshire Road regularly unload in the alley joining Western Road to Parkhurst Road at around 5.30am, those who live nearby have claimed.

The sound of metal roll cages rattling over metal-tread floor panels and into a steel lift on most weekday mornings drove Andrew Crotty, who lives along Western Road, to complain.

He said: "The noise rattles all the way down the alley. It wakes me up at half five and I cannot get back to sleep, so I have to get up.

"Coffee helps. I used to be a tea drinker but now I need caffeine to feel awake on the mornings. We live on a main street. That's the nature of the beast. But I've gone out there at half five in my pyjamas and asked them to keep it down. They take no notice."

Clinton Sturdey runs Funkybits4U, a Western Road shop that backs onto the alley, with his partner Cristie Prosser. He agreed the deliveries are a major problem.

"We bought earplugs but they didn't work. I tried sleeping with music playing on my earphones but the battery runs out.

"Once a week you could live with it, but this is most days. To be fair, we live on a high street. There are pubs and clubs around which open till 2am. You often don't get to sleep until late. Then three or four hours later they turn up to wake us up. It affects your mental health.

"I was told by staff they have had a new floor put in and they don't want to mess it up with heavy metal cages. But that doesn't give them the right to disturb all of our peace."

A spokeswoman for Somerfield, when asked whether the new floor was a factor in deliveries, said the supermarket was currently reviewing the delivery schedule to Devonshire Road. She added: "Deliveries are made to the rear of the store as this provides the best access to the warehouse."

Rother District Council head of environmental health Richard Parker-Harding said he was aware of the issue, adding: "The environmental health service will investigate any such complaint but requires the co-operation of residents to do so."