PEOPLE fed up with the level of motorway traffic noise in Flackwell Heath are setting up an action group to try and restore peace to the village.

Residents complained to Buckinghamshire County Council and MP Dominic Grieve in 2003 when the M40 extension in Loudwater caused an increase in noise pollution. But the council said there were no funds for noise reduction schemes in that financial year and told Mr Grieve it was a low priority.

Two years on, resident Mark Walker says the noise has got worse due to the removal of boundary trees. He added: "The almost unbearable noise and pollution levels from the M40 is having an increasingly detrimental effect on my family, our social life and my four children's studies."

Mr Walker has contacted the M40 Chilterns Environment Group (CEG), a noise reduction pressure group set up in 2004, to see if they can use its influence for people in Flackwell Heath.

The group successfully campaigned for sound proof fencing and a noise reducing road surface along residential stretches of the M40.

Mr Walker said: "Following a meeting with Ken Edwards of CEG, he has kindly agreed to extend his representations for Junctions 7 to 4 to include Junction 3 up to Beaconsfield, where the noise reducing fencing and asphalting were carried out when they continued the motorway to Birmingham. Most of the noise is from the viaduct at Loudwater, where the bridge itself is in need of major repairs to stop the rumble and the surfaces are inadequate for the volume of traffic and do nothing to reduce the volume of noise."

Mr Walker, who founded Flackwell Heath Residents Committee, now wants to form a strong action group to campaign to reduce the impact of noise and pollution the village.

For details contact 01628 529040