Freda Smith, 73, is fed up with a noisy manhole cover outside her home, disrupting her sleep and TV time for years
City: London. Freda Smith, a 73-year-old pensioner, is really at her wit’s end. She says her home feels ‘uninhabitable’ because of a loud noise from a manhole cover right outside her house. This has been going on for a decade every time a car drives over it.
Freda and her husband, David, have lived in their home for over 50 years. But now, the noise is so bad that it’s hard for her to watch TV or even get a good night’s sleep. Just last week, the council tried to fix it, but it didn’t help much.
She mentioned, “They did a temporary fix, but it’s not enough to stop the banging. It feels like they’re just covering up the real problem.” The manhole, owned by Virgin Media, used to be in a bike lane but was moved to the road when it was widened.
A spokesperson from Virgin Media said they’ve done their best to fix the issue, including putting in a heavy-duty cover. But it seems the noise has come back over time. They promised to send a team out to check it again and apologized for the hassle.
The council also acknowledged the noise complaint and said they would handle it according to their maintenance policy. Freda just wants some peace and quiet in her home.
