A letter of complaint has been delivered to the Town Hall, threatening legal action if the "disturbing of the peace and noise pollution" from the bells of St Mary's is not stopped. The letter signed "Residents of Rye", but otherwise anonymous, purports to come from residents of Church Square.
The claim is that the noise from bell-ringing practice on Thursday evenings is such as to cause severe distress to a number of those who live in the Square and if made by any other medium but the bells would be sufficient for the police to be called. It is also claimed that the noise is hurting the business of the "Mermaid Inn and the Ypres Tower", although there is no suggestion that either of those establishments is involved with the letter, nor, so far as we are aware, have they made any formal complaint.
The letter goes on to say that the complainants had considered approaching the church direct but "we didn't feel we had the authority to do so". They clearly, however, felt they had the authority to approach the Town Council.
The letter concludes with the threat that "we may have to consider going to a higher level of law under the bell ringing section of the environmental protection act of 1990".
There is unlikely to be any reply from the Town Council and the Town Clerk has commented that "we do not respond to anonymous complaints".
Photo: Rye News library
