A homeowner clocked more than 500 HGVs passing his house between 11pm and 4am after they were diverted down his road at night due to a motorway closure.
Angry residents living along the A666 Manchester Road in Clifton and Kearsley claim they are missing out on sleep because of the diversions - and one frustrated resident has produced a time-lapse video to prove his point.
Alan Collinge, 69, has a CCTV camera attached to his house and used the footage to compile a five-hour snap-shot of traffic volume.
He edited the footage of Manchester Road, recorded between 11pm and 4.20am, to show only HGVs - and it revealed more than 500 thundered past his house over the five-hour period. It’s the equivalent of 100 noisy wagons every hour.
The M60 is being closed westbound on weeknights from junction 16, for Swinton and the A666, between 10pm and 5am - part of a three-week carriageway inspection project ahead of safety repairs.
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Mr Collinge, who lives with his wife, said neighbours have been forced to ask GPs for sleeping pills to get a peaceful night of sleep.
He said: “People are pulling their hair out about this. I’m fortunate. I’m retired and I don’t have to get up in the morning, but others are getting up for work with hardly any sleep,
“It’s dreadful and our house shakes due to the size of some of the trucks that go past. The interruption of sleep is affecting the lives of all the people who live along the A666 and is making people ill. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture.
“The road is lined with residential properties but Highways England don’t seem to be aware, or perhaps aren’t concerned, about the nightmare that they are clearly causing.”
Mr Collinge, who has contacted his local councillors, said the diversion began on June 6. He’s uploaded his video to YouTube.
He said: “Most of the hundreds of cars that passed in the night have been omitted, but the video shows approximately 500 trucks passing through Kearsley on just this one night.
“Saturday nights and Sunday nights are a reprieve, but then it all starts again. It doesn’t ease off. It’s a constant flow. People are becoming ill because of it.”
Other residents writing on an internet forum have echoed his concerns.
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One said: “Why should I be taking tranquillisers to achieve a basic human need - sleep.”
Another posted on the forum: “What is wrong with making a contraflow system on the motorway. They just don’t think.”
Highways England said: “We need to close a two-mile stretch of the anti-clockwise M60 near Swinton to carry out inspections and repairs to maintain the safety of the motorway. The closures are taking place overnight when traffic levels are at their lowest.
“We appreciate that the work is disruptive to residents on the diversion route and are sorry for the inconvenience caused. However, it would not be feasible to close the motorway during the day as it would lead to very serious congestion in the local neighbourhood. The work is due for completion by Friday June 24.”
