Westminster council supports Saturday morning noise pollution

I was up early this morning, 801am on a Saturday morning to be exact. I was woken unceremoniously after a long hard week at work by the melodious tune of the pneumatic drill. It was very very loud and two stories below me. Hiding under the duvet was of no use.

I called Westminster council to complain. "If you are being disturbed by noise happening now..." said the website, I should call a 24 hour helpline. Wow. How forward thinking. It was a call centre that logged my call.

I got a call back in 45 minutes from a noise control officer as the council had promised. I held the phone out of the window so she could hear. "Roadworks are allowed to be carried out between 8am and 1pm on a Saturday" she told me. "I'm not sleeping at 1pm on a Saturday, but I am asleep at 8am." "That's the rule" she responded. "Who do I need to speak to to have the rules changed?" She responded: "The secretary of state."

If a group of youths were making this noise, they would be ASBO'd. From a sleeping resident's point of view, this should be no different.