Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach to probe 5am music

Residents living close to the attraction in South Shore, around the Watson Road and Lytham Road area, have said classical, opera and pop music could be heard playing until 5am yesterday.

Police were called and both environmental health officers and bosses at the Pleasure Beach are now investigating the cause of the noise nuisance.

Families endured a sleepless night and their young children were also kept up, while some said they spent yesterday exhausted at their jobs due to the “racket”.

Glenn Wilson, 48, a resident on Burlington Road, said: “It was a joke. I didn’t get any sleep at all and it was surreal, it sounded like spooky music.”

Bob Moran, who lives a quarter of a mile away from the Pleasure Beach, told how he was so incensed by the noise that he ventured down to the park to try to locate its source, as well as calling the police twice.

The 59-year-old, who lives on Watson Road, said: “The volume coming from the Pleasure Beach was absolutely unbelievable. It went on all night.

“When I phoned the police the operator could hear the music down the phone at their end.

“I drove down to the Pleasure Beach. The gates were open but there was no sign of any security guards.

“The music seemed to be coming from the Ice Arena. It was that sort of heavy, dramatic classical-style music they use in the ice shows.”

Two mothers have told how they were also kept up all night with their young children, with their double glazing doing nothing to muffle the noise.

Annette Cartlidge, 45, a mother-of-three and a carer for adults with learning disabilities in her home on Burlington Road, said her household, including two-year-old Harriet, was kept up all night.

She said: “We think someone forgot to turn the music off on one of the rides, it was like creepy chamber music.

“It was like the music was in our bedrooms. We can sometimes hear noise during the day and generally it doesn’t bother us, you expect it. But this was all night.

“We’re all shattered and I’ve got a toddler and adults with special needs living here.”

Neighbour Rachel Guest, 39, was also kept up, with three-year-old Sam.

She added: “I have double glazing so sound outside doesn’t normally bother me.

“This was horrendously loud, though, it sounded like something playing on a loop.

“We’re used to noise from the attraction but it goes off at a reasonable hour.

“This woke my three-year-old and we didn’t get back to sleep until 2.30am.”

Karen Elliott, 45, said she and husband Darren, 51, were woken through the night by the music, which she described as ranging from classical to songs from musicals, playing intermittently.

She said: “It was awful. Living near the park you expect some noise but this was just disgraceful.”

The residents have said they would like a full and prompt explanation from the Pleasure Beach on why they were kept up.

Mr Moran said: “I think it is an absolute disgrace that people have been denied a night’s sleep by the Pleasure Beach.

“They should explain why we were kept up all night by this racket.​“​

Source

Pleasure Beach bosses have accepted that the park was the source of the noise and have said they are investigating how this happened.

A spokesman said: “We are currently investigating the source of the noise on park.

“We apologise and once we establish what happened, we will take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”

A letter containing the same statement was sent out to residents who formally complained yesterday.

And Blackpool Council has confirmed that its environmental health department, which deals with noise pollution, received a number of formal complaints about the nuisance yesterday and is also looking in to the matter.

Coun Gillian Campbell, deputy leader of Blackpool Council, said: “We can confirm we received a number of complaints about noise in the South Shore area overnight.

​“​As with any complaint we will look into the issue and deal with it appropriately to try to resolve the problem.​”