AN UNHOLY row has erupted over the nightly chiming of a church clock in a normally tranquil Lake District village.

A couple who run Coniston's Yewdale Inn say they are having their sleep regularly disturbed by the hourly sounding of the clock on the St Andrew's Parish Church tower.

Jeff and Susie Hart want the ding-donging to stop overnight and have complained to Coniston Parish Council and South Lakeland District Council's Environmental Health department.

But their request has whipped up a storm on social media and they have received ringing criticism from villagers.

"The only thing between us and the church clock bell tower is a fairly narrow road," said Mrs Hart. "Our bedroom and three other guest bedrooms have windows directly adjacent to the clock tower and sometimes it seems like Big Ben is chiming next door in the middle of the night when we are trying to sleep after a long day working.

"Even with the window closed the noise is disruptive to sleep."

However, people writing on the ‘Coniston photo’s’ Facebook page have expressed their dismay at the suggestion the clock be silenced.

Penny Walker wrote that it had not been a problem for 'hundreds of years' and questioned why it was now an issue.

"They (the chimes) are part of Coniston's heritage and part of village life!" she wrote.

"We are very lucky to still have a thriving community in our village and this is just one more thing that we have to fight to keep."

Tracy Coward, chair of Coniston Parish Council, said that she was aware that the general consensus was that people enjoyed the bells during the night but that the council would not be taking a position on the situation.

"From the parish council perspective it's been investigated by environmental health as an individual's concern," she said. "I'm aware that it's generated quite a lot of social media interest and I think some of that has been a bit misconstrued as them wanting to silence the bells totally and it wasn't - it was just through the evening."

Mr and Mrs Hart took over the Yewdale Inn in 2013, having moved to the area from Lancaster. Despite great success with the establishment, the couple said they have received TripAdvisor complaints because of the chiming.

One reviewer wrote: "The hotel is next to a church which rings the bells every hour even during night so this & it being very hot disturbed our sleep."

However, SLDC councillor for Coniston and Crake Valley, Anne Hall, said that the feeling in the village was that they wanted to keep the bells.

"Personally I live within 50 yards of the church and look right at it and sleep with my window open," she said. "It's like the river running past - you don't hear these things when you're there all the time."

The church clock chime system was installed in 1890 at the request of the villagers and is automated.

Coniston resident Heather Troughton said that the people of Coniston did not want the bells silenced and they were 'part of village life'.

"They feel the bells haven't been an issue before now," she said. "They've been here longer than us and will be here long after us, so why change them."

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Carlisle said that an additional timer mechanism would have to be installed in order to silence the bells at specific times.

"It is understood a formal complaint has been made to the council’s environmental health department about chimes in the early hours, affecting the sleep pattern of guests at a nearby hotel. The Parochial Church Council was notified of this by letter dated March 29, 2017," the spokesperson said.

"The PCC has actively contacted the local authority and understands that the situation will now be monitored with the complainant being asked to keep a log of those times when the clock’s chimes are considered to be intrusive. The PCC awaits the outcome of that monitoring.

Mrs Hart said that she and her husband had been in talks with the church about the bells since 2013 and although they had been happy to contribute to costs, the sum quoted was more than anticipated.

A spokesperson for SLDC said: "We have received a complaint of alleged noise nuisance relating to the clock at St Andrew’s Church in Coniston.

"It is our statutory duty to investigate all such complaints and in circumstances where environmental health officers establish there is a nuisance we are obliged to serve an abatement notice.

"However, if there is an issue we would explore various options with the church and the person complaining to find a solution before reaching that stage."