A St Albans resident has fumed over a lack of sleep caused by what he describes as "unnecessary drilling" late at night, after UK Power Networks were called to his Marlborough Road address.

Richard Hollis was attempting to get some sleep ahead of an early start on the evening of July 23, only to be interrupted by the sound of pneumatic drilling shortly after 10pm.

He says that this lasted for more than three hours, only finishing shortly after 1am.

The 63-year-old says he went outside to see what was going on and found several of his neighbours unable to sleep, including those with small children.

He said: "I initially thought it was to do with roadworks but when I got there I found out it was the Power Networks crew.

"They had been called out to attend a so-called emergency but it was a loss of power at a derelict building that had been reported by the owners or developers on site."

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Richard claims he was told by a staff member that this had been incorrectly flagged as an emergency and the work could have been carried out during normal working hours.

He adds: "The whole neighbourhood was impacted by three hours of drilling because of an incorrectly prioritised job. This was badly managed and badly allocated."

He describes the disruption to resident's sleep as "unnecessary" and notes that it was particularly bad timing as he had to be up at 7.30am the next morning to travel to a business meeting.

Richard has been promised a £40 cheque in the post as a "gesture of goodwill" - something he admits is "nice", but won't get him or his neighbours their sleep back.

"This was an incorrectly timed operation. There was not a loss of power but there was a loss of sleep," he added.

But, UK Power Networks insist the work was "essential" and carried out at a necessary time, with a spokesperson saying: "Engineers have repaired an underground cable to restore power to a customer in Marlborough Road.

"We needed access to the premises and to dig through concrete under the carriageway when the road was not busy with traffic.

 "This was an essential repair, and we were able to carry out temporary works.

"We are arranging to return and make a permanent repair."