CONISTON'S church bells are set to be silenced overnight following a formal complaint that the chimes were disrupting nearby hotel owners and their guests.

Once the timing device is installed St Andrew's chimes will not be heard between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

The formal complaint was made to South Lakeland District Council's environmental health department and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Coniston and Torver were notified of this at the end of March.

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Jeff and Susie Hart, the couple who run Coniston's Yewdale Inn, which is situated in close proximity to the church, made the initial complaint.

Speaking at the time, Mrs Hart said: "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."

Following the news that in the 'coming weeks' the timer mechanism would be installed, Mrs Hart said that both herself and her husband were 'pleased and relieved'.

"We are pleased and relieved that the Church has finally fulfilled its statutory obligation to allow us and our guests to have a peaceful night’s sleep," she said.

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

And Coniston resident Heather Troughton, who had been opposed to the silencing of the chimes when it was first suggested, said the decision was 'sad for the village'.

"It's a shame as it hadn't bothered anyone before now," she said. "But the Diocese had to weigh up the cost and that's what it came down to. It's sad for the village."

Work on the timer device is being undertaken by the Cumbria Clock Company Ltd, based in Dacre near Penrith and the necessary church faculty has been sought and approved.