Politics
Couple forced to wear EARPLUGS in bed as new £350k ‘dream’ home ‘shakes’ with lorries from busy A-road
A COUPLE have been forced to wear earplugs in their new £350,000 dream home to block out the “horrendous” noise of traffic from a busy A-road.
Jackie McCormack, 58, and her husband moved into the home in Coleshill, Warwickshire, just 9ft from the bustling A446, at the end of February.
Jackie McCormack and her husband are forced to wear earplugs because of the noise from traffic from a nearby A road[/caption]
The couple’s three-bedroom home in Coleshiill, Warwickshire, is next to the A446[/caption]
But their dream soon turned to a nightmare with the three-bedroom house shaking every time a lorry drives past.
The couple have to clean their windows four times a week, with cars thundering close by all day.
Pollution is so bad Jackie can write her name in the dust that covers her ensuite bathroom.
Jackie told Birmingham Live: “We moved in on the Friday and on Saturday it was absolutely horrendous.
‘HORRENDOUS’
“I didn’t realise there was an injunction regarding boy racers on the A446, they don’t take any notice of it.
“They started at 11am on the Saturday and went right the way through to 4am on Sunday, hitting speeds of 90 – 100mph.
“On the Monday, it started with the heavy good vehicles – my house was constantly shaking. You don’t get any respite at all, it’s relentless. It’s like living next to a motorway.”
Weekend boy racers zooming past on their motorbikes make a constant racket, the couple say.
Traffic zooms past just yards from their dream home from morning til night[/caption]
The couple say the ‘disgraceful’ racket of cars on the road starts from 5.30am[/caption]
Jackie is terrified to let her grandchildren play in the garden, which is a “no-go area” as there are no crash barriers or speed cameras to slow cars down.
The couple have to wear earplugs to protect them from the “disgraceful” din of traffic from 5.30am on weekdays.
Jackie said they only viewed the property on Saturday mornings “before the road wakes up”, buying it for £25,000 less than they expected.
She added: “It’s a beautiful property. But I think because it was so close to the road, no wonder they dropped it by £25,000.
“I’m not saying we were duped, I think they [estate agents] should have been a little more forthcoming with the times they were allowing us to come see.
You don’t get any respite at all, it’s relentless. It’s like living next to a motorway
Jackie McCormack
“If it had been about 2pm, we would have said ‘what the hell’ and we wouldn’t have touched it with a barge pole.
“I’m not blaming the planners[either], but how they got planning permission to build a house so close to the road, I will never know.”
Dust from the pollution falls onto their cars and windows every day, with couple having to wash their windows three or four times a week.
Jackie said: “If the pollution is going onto our windows and our cars, what are we breathing in?
“I’ve got an en suite upstairs, it doesn’t have a window but it’s got a convector fan and every morning, I’ve got a beautiful white sink, everything’ is brand new – you could write your name in the dust that has settled from the air coming from the outside in.”
Most read in News
She added: “My garden’s a no go area and I think it always will be, unless they reduce that speed, it’s too much of a danger.
“I wouldn’t allow my grandson to play outside, it’s too scary. It’s the speed at which the juggernauts go past, it’s the speed of the racers, they’re doing wheelies, it’s absolutely shocking.”
Jackie has called for speed cameras to be installed
Warwickshire County Council said it will consider the couple’s problems “very carefully”.
Jackie has called for speed cameras to be installed to help slow down the traffic[/caption]
