Officials have given the go-ahead for two rooftop apartments to be built just 120ft from the 19th century Truro Cathedral in Cornwall.[>
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But planners admit they forgot to include a stipulation barring residents of the flats from complaining about the noise of the bells .[>
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Lyn Carter, environmental health officer at Carrick District Council, said bell-ringing could be stopped within weeks of a new resident buying a flat.[>
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She said: “The law of the land does mean that people can move next to a noise and then complain about it. The law says that the agency must investigate these complaints. If it deems that it is a statutory nuisance, we have to serve an abatement notice.”[>
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Councillor Bert Biscoe said: “The clock bells will be roughly in line with the flats, so new residents will have bells ringing every quarter of an hour about 40 yards from their maisonette.[>
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“It would be tough on Truro if this very distinctive part of the city was removed.”[>
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The cathedral was the first to be built in Britain since the Middle Ages, and is one of only three in the country with three spires, which are 250ft tall.[>
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It attracts about 200,000 visitors every year.[>