Publican fights church over nuisance bells

An angry publican who hasn't had a decent night's sleep for more than a year, is fighting to ban the church bells that are keeping him awake.

Graham Taylor, who runs the Swan pub in Wantage, Oxfordshire, has lost his patience after countless sleepless nights, and has stormed into the St Peter and St Paul church next door demanding that the priest put an end to the racket.

Mr Taylor has now contacted Environmental Health Officers, who are planning to set up monitoring equipment in his flat to determine the level of nuisance.

He told The Publican: "I've been here for two years. For one year the clock chimes were actually broken, so there wasn't a problem - but for the last year they have been keeping me awake every night. I'm at my wits end and the lack of sleep means I can't actually function."

"The bells chime every 15 minutes and every three hours the clock plays three verses of the Orlando Gibbons hymn The Angel's Song."

The licensee isn't the only disgruntled resident. He has set up a petition, which now has more than 60 signatures.

"The people that have supported me are all people that live within 100m of the church. They're as frustrated as me that they can't get any sleep and they've had enough."

Ringing master of the church's bells, Peter Davies, said he feared if the bells were ruled a nuisance it could affect 5,000 other churches across the country. In 12 years, there has never been another complaint. He said the licensee had a cheek and accused Mr Taylor of running the nosiest pub in the town.

Mr Taylor retaliated: "He has no proof that I am the noisiest pub in the town. I have sound proofing and noise limitation so even if I am the loudest pub in the town I'm well within the law - which I'm not sure the church is."

A spokesman for the Vale of White Horse District Council said it was looking into the matter.