Fury over 61 hours of ringing alarms at council building

West Berkshire Council has been described as ‘an absolute joke’ by furious residents who could not get hold of anyone to switch an alarm off for 61 hours.

The bells kept ringing at council-owned disused building York House on Andover Road, Newbury, for the whole weekend.

The council has now apologised, and blames a faulty alarm panel.

Despite numerous attempts to get hold of the council over the weekend to switch it off, no one returned their calls, prompting outrage on social media.

“West Berkshire Council, you are an absolute joke,” wrote one angry resident.

“You have been contacted multiple times about the alarm going off at your office block and I am actually still waiting a call back from three hours ago from whoever is on the emergency line – longest five minutes ever. Sort it out as we cannot stand another day of your alarm going off.”

The alarm was eventually turned off on Monday morning.

"We have also written directly to residents who were affected by the incident to say sorry and to offer our reassurance that all possible steps will be taken to avoid a recurrence," said the council.

The lack of response has been criticised by the opposition Liberal Democrats.

“At least twice in two months, West Berkshire has needed a working out-of-hours emergency service,” said Adrian Abbs, (Lib Dem, Wash Common).

“The latest issue is a fire alarm in an unused council building starting to go off on Friday and only getting turned off Monday morning. That’s 61 hours of constant alarm in a residential area.

“We may get an apology from the administration on this one, but my deeper concern is that the Conservatives have simply gone too far without leaving even the basics in place.

“Fiscal responsibility is not just about taking the cheapest solution available. It’s about getting the best value service that delivers on the need."