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Protesters Katerina Savva and Elizabeth Geary |
Store critics draw up ‘noise diary’
Probe into complaints about three years of disturbance at Sainsbury’s Local
NEIGHBOURS say the noises in Fortess Road, Tufnell Park, began three years ago, with violent crashes, running engines, and raucous cries through the small hours.
The bumps in the night are no mystery, residents claim, directing their stares at the Sainsbury’s Local which opened on the street three years ago.
The supermarket giant, however, insists it is not behind the 24 hour rumpus, saying delivery restrictions and a lack of night staff prevent them making any noise or drop-offs outside of their 7am to 11pm opening hours.
Dozens of neighbours, including a police officer, beg to differ and they have been keeping a special “noise diary”.
Complaints of Sainsbury’s “banging”, “unloading” and “shouting” from as early as 4.30am fill the four-page report, signed by 19 different witnesses. With both sides refusing to back down environmental health officers have now been called in to settle the dispute.
Katerina Savva, the 77-year-old pensioner spearheading the campaign, has spent the last two years writing letters to MP Frank Dobson, Camden Council, the Metropolitan Police and Sainsbury’s headquarters appealing for help.
Mrs Savva, a retired dressmaker, said: “I’ve got nothing against Sainsbury’s but this one shop has made my life so bad.
“I’m not going in there any more, I’d rather starve to death.
“I’ve lived here for 47 years, and it was always quiet before.”
Mrs Savva says she sleeps one hour a night because of the volume of the deliveries and takes a medley of different pills to combat sleeplessness.
Elizabeth Geary, another neighbour, said that many residents had been out in the middle of night, wearing nothing more than their nightdresses or underwear, to complain about staff using hammers to open the lorry doors or “ram-raiding” each other on the steel trolleys.
“Obviously they have to deliver but do they have to do it at all hours of the night?
“They call themselves locals but they don’t seem to care about the locals,” she said.
A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “There are delivery restrictions which do not permit us to deliver after 11pm and before 7am. We always make every effort to operate our stores with respect for our neighbours.”
Camden Council said: “We are carrying out an ongoing investigation into complaints of noisy overnight deliveries to Sainsbury’s on Fortess Road and will take appropriate action once we have established the facts.” |
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