Circus Street building site is a 'living nightmare' for residents

Sally Baker, 27, and Allan King, 29, live opposite the Circus Street development site in central Brighton.

The couple are furious that work is taking place outside agreed times, site rubbish is spread across the housing estate, and parties, including a live band, have been taking place in the evening.

Ms Baker said: “We can’t sleep. It’s a joke.

“Who on earth throws a party on a building site?

“It’s my daughter’s birthday soon, I’m going to see if I can rent the place out for her.”

Representatives from the building site have constant meetings with the residents’ association to iron out issues.

The site’s manager apologised at one of the meetings for throwing the late night parties, according to a council officer.

Residents claim one party featured a live band and another was for a worker who had just had a new baby.

The couple from Milner Court, which is less than 8m from the site, think their pleas for peace have been ignored and they are regarded as “down and outs”.

Mr King, who is also the chairman of the residents’ association, said: “They are supposed to be a considerate work site.

“We are proud of where we live – this is not on.”

The 2.4 acre site is set to provide 450 new students homes.

Work began two years ago and is expected to finish next year.

A leaflet handed to residents promised that no works would be conducted on Sundays and there would be no noisy weekday works before 8am.

But residents have complained to the council that this is not being adhered to.

Barbara McGuinness, 60, also from Milner Court, said: “We are living in a nightmare, it’s had a massive effect my daughter and grandson.

“We can’t have our windows open from the noise and fear of what we may be breathing in.”

Another resident, Olivia Razan, said: “Many people that live in the block are vulnerable people with mental health conditions.

“I can’t open the windows due to the air pollution and I can’t work shifts as I can’t sleep at night.

“I don’t know how much this is affecting my health and how much of my life I am losing.”

Henry Construction said it would not speak to the press about the issues but would continue speaking to the residents.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said Henry Construction had apologised to the residents.

He said: “We are aware of a recent increase in complaints from local residents regarding alleged breaches of working hours and are currently investigating these complaints.

“We have also contacted U+I [the developer] and Henry to alert them to the alleged breaches of working hours and other complaints, and have asked them to further investigate these and come back to us with a response as a matter of priority.”