Street kept awake by noisy manhole cover

People on a street say they cannot sleep and may be forced to leave the area due to loud banging from cars driving over a loose manhole cover.

Residents on St James Lane, Coventry, told the BBC the sound had been keeping them awake for more than a year.

One said it was "just awful", while another said they had given up on reporting the issue as "it doesn't make any difference".

Water firm Severn Trent said its teams had inspected the site and were waiting for permits from the city council to start repair work - the local authority said works had been rescheduled for April.

Daniel, who lives on the road in Willenhall, said he had a young daughter who was kept awake at night and they could "hear it constantly".

"It's just awful," he added.

Another man, who asked not to be named, said he had given up trying to get it sorted.

"We stopped reporting it. It doesn't make any difference. I wake up in the middle of the night because of the noise," he said.

"The fix lasted a couple of months but it came back. We are looking to move, this being one of the reasons."

Anne, an elderly resident on the road, said: "It drives me mad. I can hear it at night when I go to bed.

"It's been going on for a year or more."

A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water said teams have been out to inspect and work out what needed to be done to repair the manhole and its cover.

"Due to the location of this manhole in the road, we will need to put some traffic management in place to keep everyone safe while we make the repair," they said.

"We're just waiting for a permit from the council. Once the permit is received, we'll be out to make the repair as quickly as possible."

The spokesperson said they understood how disruptive the loose manhole could be, and apologised to local residents for "any inconvenience".

A Coventry City Council spokesperson said the local authority had received complaints about the manhole and were in touch with Severn Trent.

They said the water provider contacted the council on 23 January to request works be rescheduled to 30 April.

"We hope the issue will be resolved for residents at this time," the spokesperson added.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.