Newcastle music festival noise 'heard over church organ'

Residents have complained about the "diabolical" noise from a nearby music festival which could be heard over the sound of the local church organ.

Artists including the Stereophonics and Noel Gallagher played at This is Tomorrow at Newcastle's Exhibition Park over the bank holiday weekend.

Some residents have called on Newcastle City Council to ban similar events.

The council said it had monitored the noise and instructed it to be turned down when it exceeded certain levels.

One resident from nearby Brandling Park described the festival as "diabolical, three days of totally excessive noise", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said..

Another local, Chris Bates, added: "It was unbelievable.

"I was in church on Sunday morning and even when the organ was playing I could still hear the music from the festival."

Marilyn Zack added: "There is nothing we can do about last weekend now, but we can try to prevent such a big, commercial event happening on our doorstep ever again."

Newcastle City Council said it was a "brilliant weekend" which attracted more than 30,000 people and would have an "economic benefit of around £6m for the city".

A spokesperson confirmed there were sounds checks at the site from 10:00 BST on both Saturday and Sunday.

He said: "Noise levels were monitored throughout and we were working towards keeping them within levels deemed appropriate through national guidance.

"On occasions the noise did exceed those levels and in such instances we instructed the sound technicians to reduce the volume."

James Cross, from the charity Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust which recently took control of the city's green spaces, said: "Events like This is Tomorrow help generate revenue that we will reinvest to make sure the city's green spaces continue to be somewhere people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy."