RESIDENTS living next to one of the UK’s busiest roundabouts say it is so noisy that their soundproof £3k windows are black from the exhaust fumes and they can barely sleep.
The Sun in the Sands roundabout in Blackheath, south-east London connects two of the capital’s busiest roads, forcing locals to put up with constant roaring traffic.
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Barry, 73, told MyLondon: “The break in traffic from two until six in the morning is all the respite you’ve got.
“I’ve moved my bedroom out to the back to escape, otherwise I’d hardly get any sleep at all.”
The pensioner added that new windows fitted by the council to reduce noise levels had made no difference.
Henry Hoppe, 21, said: “I grew up in the countryside near Wales and it was silent.
“All I heard was sheep, and now I come here and it’s just motorway.”
Luke, 32, a local landlord, said that the noise was so bad that he had been forced to install ugly soundproof windows, costing £3,000 each, at the front of his Georgian property – before the pollution turned them black.
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He said: “It’s the noisiest road and it’s the most polluted road, all our windows are continuously black.
“I think people dislike this road, there’s always accidents on that junction.
“People drive down here so fast. This place has been crashed into a few times.”
Some residents are more stoical about the noise and fumes which blight the area.
Frances, 72, said: “You get used to the pollution and the amount of cars.
“If you came out in the morning you’ll be queuing for half an hour.
“It’s always busy and if there’s an accident in the Blackwall tunnel you can be in traffic for five or six hours, gridlocked.”
The pandemic brought respite for some locals, as lockdown emptied the roundabout.
Frances said it made her appreciate the area more despite the non-stop din soon returning.
She said: “We had lovely streets. I’ve got a perfect little house with the car parked right outside.”
It comes after residents living next to the UK’s smelliest factory say the odour is so horrific it made them suicidal.
Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall makes some of the UK’s most popular dairy products, but last year it was successfully prosecuted for breaching its permits by polluting.
Locals in two “forgotten” villages say they have the worst roads in Britain with drivers, walkers and cyclists being blighted by potholes.
The pretty Nottinghamshire villages of Thoroton and Hawksworth have such bad potholes that some cars have had their shafts as well as their tyres ruined.
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