WARRINGTON’S new MP has vowed to raise residents’ concerns over noise generated by Creamfields with festival organisers.

The annual electronic dance music festival was staged recently over the bank holiday weekend in Daresbury, with more than 70,000 revellers attending.

But residents in Appleton have raised issues over this year’s event, including congestion on the A56 Chester Road past the festival site, and several local roads being closed.

The main issue however was noise pollution, with residents saying this was ‘unfair’, particularly the time that the event finished.

“Traffic issues are not much of an inconvenience, as the crowds now know the correct routes to take, and locals are aware of the temporary road closures and avoid the area,” one Appleton resident said.

“The main issue affecting us and many of our neighbours is that of noise.

“The large housing estate to the east of London Road is now home to several thousand people, not all of whom welcome the pervasive thump-thump of Creamfields that starts around midday and continues through the evening.

“It used to shut down at 11pm or midnight, but this year Halton Borough Council licensed the event to continue using the music system until 4am on Sunday morning.

“My wife suffers from tinnitus, a medical condition that produces a constant ringing in the ears, which was triggered by Creamfields, making her life unpleasant for the whole of Saturday and Sunday.

“Trying to get to sleep with that noise going on is next to impossible, as the low bass frequencies pass straight through walls and double-glazing.

“If I used my home stereo system to keep my neighbours awake like that until the small hours, I am sure I would get a visit from the police and get slapped with an ASBO.

“Why should a commercial event close to a residential area be any different?”

The resident rang the Creamfields noise complaints line and was told that the festival had noise monitoring measures in place.

“I can only conclude that either they were not doing it properly, the criteria was too lax, or the organisers simply ignored the issue,” they added.

“It is unfair that such an event, designed to give attendees a good time, makes other people's lives so difficult.”

Cllr Laura Booth, who represents Appleton on Warrington Borough Council, ‘corroborated everything that the resident had to say’.

“The noise this year has been far worse than normal, and the 4am finish was far too late for residents to get to sleep,” she noted.

“Sitting in the garden over the bank holiday weekend was nigh-on impossible, and there was no escape indoors.

“I hope to take this further with Halton Borough Council to see if we can deal with these issues before next August.”

Creamfields was approached to comment but failed to respond.

Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury was also contacted, but as his office had not received any complaints, and given those complaints raised to him were by Warrington residents, he chose to leave the issue for Warrington South MP Sarah Hall to comment, if she so wished.

Ms Hall said: “I have received a small number of complaints from constituents regarding this year’s Creamfields festival.

“I will be raising these with the organisers and Halton Borough Council, which licences the event.

“If any other constituents would like to raise their concerns with me personally, they can do so by emailing sarah.hall.mp@parliament.uk so I can ensure residents are kept up to date on the responses I receive.”

A Halton Borough Council spokesman confirmed that noise monitoring does take place on-site, and added: “The festival is subject to a licensing process, when members of the public or interested parties have the opportunity the make representations.”

Warrington Borough Council was asked if it would like to comment, but a spokesman said that it would be one for Halton Borough Council to respond to as Creamfields was under its licence.