AN IRISH city has been named one of the noisiest places to sleep, with almost 18,000 noise complaints.
Belfast city had 17,480 complaints about the noise, second only to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which had an astonishing 34, 910.
The data was collected by Anglian Home Improvements through Freedom of Information requests to local authorities across Britain and Northern Ireland.
Out of the 253 that answered the worst places to catch up on some shut eye after the Royal Borough and Belfast included Haringey in north London, Tower Hamlets in east London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Ealing in west London, Lambeth borough and Coventry.
Belfast is one of the noisiest cities in which to sleep, research has shown. (Picture: iStock)As a result of complaints, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council issued 280 noise abatement notices, Belfast City Council issued 17 and London Borough of Haringey just 1.
According to the research, the main noise offenders were music, building work, buskers, air conditioning and even loud conversations.
However, if you really need those forty winks, you’re better off somewhere more isolated, like the Isles of Scilly or Comhairlenan Eilean Siar in the Outer Hebrides, as the islands' authorities received just 40 complaints each in the three year period, generally limited to street noise, animals, parties and loud music.
Matt Carey, Head of Digital Marketing at Anglian Home Improvements, said: “Sleep has a huge impact on the way we perform and interact with others. While we can make sure that our bedrooms are comfortable, dark and the right temperature, external noise is a slightly harder issue to overcome.
“Anyone struggling with noisy neighbours this winter – from festive parties to excitable pets – should look at straightforward soundproofing techniques in their home. Simply changing the layout of your room, so that your sofa or bed is as far away as possible from the noise source, can make a big difference. Thin soundproofing panels are easily fixed to partitioned or stud walls and relatively inexpensive, and will cut out the noise of neighbours’ conversations or television noise. Noises out on the street can be reduced by upgrading your windows, or – for a cheaper option – by choosing your fencing or outdoor plants carefully. You’d be surprised the difference these can have in ‘walling off’ noise from the street.”
