NOISE from late-night construction and partying has become unbearable in Soho with residents warning the council: “We can’t get to sleep!”

The Soho Society published results of a sleep deprivation survey of its members with drunks, pedicabs, waste collections, construction and deliveries topping the list of gripes. Two-thirds of the membership pool agreed noise nuisance from increased commercial activity at night was the most serious problem affecting quality of life.

Noise has historically been dismissed as an ines­capable feature of life in the West End but long-standing residents say this now out of control. A public meeting has been called for later this month after residents said they had become suicidal and were left with no option but to leave.

One couple taking part in the survey will not make the meeting because they are leaving. In a message to the society, they said: “We love Soho with all our hearts and will shed a tear when we leave. But if we stay we’ll be getting seriously ill, the whole area just doesn’t welcome residents like it used to. It’s got a great sense of community and we love the people here, but it’s just too much now.

“When we moved here, maybe one night a week we’d be disturbed, now it’s five days a week, minimum, and all the reasons you described, refuse collection and deliveries, are frankly killing us. And it’s at both ends of the day. We’ll have bottle smashing refuse collection at 1am and then deliveries throughout the night, and are often woken by barrel deliveries to local pubs before 7am. Please don’t give up the fight, it’s just beaten us.”

For many, the noise from Christmas decorations going up in Carnaby Street in the middle of the night was the final straw.

Soho Society chair Tim Lord said: “Soho is back at full pelt now after the pandemic. It’s very busy at the moment and the noise is going through the night.

“People are starting to record it on phones. Things are happening at 3am. Cars are collecting people from 4am. It’s reached a complete crisis point. Soon it will just be Airbnb and short-term lets here and we will have lost a community.”

He said the new administration needed to “take this matter seriously” and install noise monitors instead of “gas-lighting” residents, asking them to prove the problem existed, adding: “A lot of these things could easily be resolved and they should be investigated. It’s a choice. We are talking about a public health issue.”

Despite the criticism, Mr Lord said that the new Labour administration, which has dumped the previous administration’s al fresco programme, was listening and there was a lot of goodwill for the ward councillors.

The council in 2021 published a draft strategy that focused on the West End and St James’s wards having the highest number of service requests to the council’s noise team from air conditioning and noise from pubs, clubs and bars, adding: “Soho is a particular hotspot for this type of complaint.”

The strategy added: “Noise pollution is a significant problem in our borough. We receive over 17,000 noise complaints a year. Noise can have serious effects on the health of the city’s residents, and it can also be very annoying.”

Council leader Adam Hug said the city recognised “the real challenges that Soho residents face with noise issues and the council will be working with the Soho Society and other local stakeholders around identifying areas where the city council can help address some of these challenges”.