Ding-dong over clocktower chime that is 'too loud'

A council has decided to break with a 137-year tradition and limit the chimes of a town's clocktower to once an hour after a noise complaint from a nearby resident.

The bells of Birkenhead Town Hall now toll on the hour, rather than every 15 minutes, because a man who lives nearby complained they rang too loud and too often.

In a statement Wirral Council said the times were changed after its own environmental health officer found the sounds were a "statutory noise nuisance".

But heritage campaigner Philip Barton said many local people cherished the more regular chime and "live their lives by them".

The clocktower above Birkenhead Town Hall close to Hamilton Square reaches 60m in height (200ft).

A resident who lived nearby complained about the volume and frequency of the quarter-hourly tolling of the bells, prompting a council investigation.

An officer went to their home and measured the noise, finding the chiming to have breached limits capable of being classed as a nuisance.

A council spokeswoman said a "compromise" was reached to move to hourly chimes while the authority considered other options.

"We've all got clocks and watches and phones to tell the time, but the chimes are a little bit more than that", Mr Barton said.

The campaigner said he understood the council had to comply with its own noise rules, but added "as far as I'm aware, it's the first complaint in 137 years".

The Birkenhead resident said it was a "great shame" the bells would not be heard as often.

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