BOMBAY Sapphire has been accused of “ruining the lives” of neighbours after a noise abatement notice was served on the distillery.

Karen Chudley and Lindsay Taylor live opposite the Laverstoke gin-making distillery, where the noise from the articulated lorries that bring in the raw materials to be flavoured is disturbing them at antisocial hours.

“It’s ruining our lives,” Karen said. “The lorries come in at all hours of the day and night, we get as many as seven in a day. The vibration shakes the entire house and makes a loud noise.

“We can’t sleep and we can’t live normally when they are making so much noise.”

The original application for the building of the distillery was pitched so that there would only be one HGV that would be coming in normal working hours (8am to 6pm) to deliver any botanicals or supplies to make the gin. This includes the ethanol.

However, the couple say between three and seven of the containers arrive and pump the materials at any time of the day and night, including as early as 5am and as late as 11.30pm.

This has had a dramatic effect on their health, with Karen suffering from sleep deprivation, meaning she is unable to work.

Karen’s partner Lindsay, a former project manager at the Ministry of Defence, has had to take early retirement in order to help take care of Karen.

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Lindsay said: “Bombay Sapphire have been bad neighbours, despite telling us that they care about the issue, they haven’t made any effort to actually address our problem.

“They sold us a dream when they built the place, but delivered us a nightmare.”

A spokesperson for Bombay Sapphire said: “The distillery prides itself on being an exceptional neighbour and community partner. This is our home, too, and we are working with the council to resolve this situation to the satisfaction of all parties. We’ve already agreed on timings for our tanker movements, which are at the heart of the matter.”

The couple moved into their house in November 2009, before the mill was taken over by Bombay Sapphire in 2010 and development work was started.

Colin Rowland, head of street scene, parks and regulatory services at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, said: “We thoroughly investigated these complaints and have taken action. We are now in discussion with Bombay Sapphire about how this can be resolved and are confident a solution can be found.”

The distillery has been given until May 12 to comply with the notice, which restricts lorry movements to the original hours, and reduce noise.