PEOPLE living in Rodbourne say they are being kept awake through the night by broadband installation work. 

Neighbours are unhappy at bright floodlights, reversing lorries and loud machinery in the area as CityFibre constructs a new £40m network in the town.

Complaints started surfacing online on September 1, with the work described as going on into the early hours of the morning.

Kelly Stephen Roberts posted a video onto social media at 10.13pm showing work going on at the time.

She described it as incredibly loud, distracting and said it was keeping her awake. 

“I live in Mannington Park and the video is of them working in the alleyway leading to Great Western Way behind Bruce Street,” she said. 

“It was terrible. It was that bad it was vibrating my microwave on my kitchen side. 

“I had Covid at the time as was struggling to sleep as it was.”

She says the work on that night continued until at least 12.45am and that a neighbour had to go out and ask for the flashing lights on a lorry to be turned off because it was "like a disco". 

Another video was posted on September 4 by somebody living in Pasture Close.

“This has been happening for days now, work going on late into the night,” he said. 

“It’s quite bad, the noise, they’re drilling through the road surface.

“Those guys on the first row of houses right by it have had it really bad, there are spotlights and floodlights.

“It’s like daylight down there.”

Swindon Borough Council can give permission for disruptive work such as this to take place, but a spokesperson confirmed this was not the case.

“In line with national guidance, we would not allow ‘noisy’ works past 11pm and before 7am on residential streets,” the spokesman said. 
Labour councillor Jim Robbins has urged CityFibre to follow those guidelines to prevent further issues

“I don’t think it’s right for works to go on after 11pm and before 7am,” he said.

“They have a slot in the evening before 11pm and after rush hour has finished to carry out the work.

“I fear if they carry on working anti-social hours they will alienate people and lead to them not wanting to take them up on their service.

“I really feel for residents who have got sleeping issues and young children, it’s difficult for those residents to get a good night’s sleep.”

CityFibre’s city manager for Swindon, Neil Madle, said: “CityFibre is investing at least £40m to deliver a town-wide full fibre network that will future-proof Swindon’s digital capabilities for decades to come.

"This is a major undertaking, which is why, throughout all builds, we work closely with our build partner and the local council to ensure all works are delivered effectively and efficiently.

"To minimise disruption to traffic and avoid daytime lane closures on the main artery into town, we have been permitted to carry out works at night by Swindon Borough Council.

"The work on Great Western Way took place in a non-residential area which is why we were able to continue working after the 11pm cut-off. We always try to keep disruption to a minimum and want to thank Swindon residents for their patience.”