TAXI drivers on the rank alongside the Carlton Street Car Park are worried they will develop tinnitus because of the excessive noise from the demolition work there.

They have complained that their ears are still ringing two hours after they get home after a long shift.

Driver Keith Larbey said: “I think the council must have had a lot of complaints about the level of the noise.

“At one point they had three pneumatic drills going at anyone time, the noise levels must have been above what it should be.

“When you have a passenger coming up trying to tell you where they want to go they have to get in the taxi and wind up the windows before you can hear what they’re saying.

“For us it’s not the best working conditions, and it’s not like the people waiting for a bus for ten minutes then they’re away.

“We are having to stay down here all day long at the risk of getting tinnitus. Once it is gone we will have the noise of whatever it is they are going to construct there.”

Fellow taxi driver Mike Lea said he couldn’t even hear when his phone was ringing.

“The problem has been here for three to four weeks, it is just constant. I get home and it is taking an hour to two hours to stop the ringing in my ears,” he said.

“Obviously it is not just us, there’s a block of flats nearby that have nurses living there that have to work night shifts.

“It’s constant from 7.30am until 5pm. I answer my phone and can’t hear bookings. The blokes up there on the scaffolding doing it all day have ear muffs on, but we don’t.”

Driver Ray Williams said he had phoned the council to speak to the environmental health department, requesting that they come down to visit the site, but he hadn’t been made aware if they had visited.

Swindon Borough Council has disputed the taxi drivers’ claims saying the noise coming from the site has not exceeded the set levels.

“The contractor is not allowed to exceed set noise levels, which is standard practice for responsible operators and noise from the site is monitored,” said a council spokesman.

“ We have no record of any complaints being made about noise since the work started, which takes place during normal working hours only.

“The noise levels in any one place will vary from time to time as the contractor moves and operates machinery around the site to where it is needed.

“But we are not aware it has ever exceeded set levels.

“This is a demolition site and a certain amount of noise is inevitable, but it has not been excessive.”