AN ANGRY York resident has hit out over work to replace a gas main outside his house, which he says is preventing his wife from working following her night shifts.

Arthur Sutherland, 53, of Tang Hall Lane, contacted the Evening Press after seven weeks of work by Transco contractors, who are undertaking a major project to replace the existing main under his road and a number of adjoining streets.

Mr Sutherland claims that noise from the work is causing havoc with the sleeping patterns of his wife, Judy, 42, who works night shifts a few times a week.

He also claims that they received no prior warning about the work, and that a Transco official who arranged a visit to discuss the problems failed to show up.

"They have been laying pipes all the way down, but the main bulk seems to be outside my house.

"My wife needs her sleep during the day and the situation is getting out of hand. We have to turn the television up and we can hardly hear the telephone."

A spokesman for Transco said that work was running "well ahead of schedule" and they had brought in additional manpower to speed up the process.

"We are doing everything we can to get the job finished, which is an essential one for the area.

"All residents should have received prior warning about the disruption."

He added that an engineer would visit Mr Sutherland's home as soon as possible to discuss his concerns.

Fred Isles, maintenance manager for City of York Council's highways department, said the council was being very active in keeping disruption to a minimum.

Officials have already issued contractors with a Section 66 order to complete unfinished work, and inspectors are making weekly site visits to check on progress.

"We challenged the length of time they were proposing for the work because originally they wanted to take until October, so they are now running to our timetable and not Transco's," said Mr Isles.

"As far as I am aware, this is the only complaint that has been made."

Updated: 10:18 Wednesday, July 30, 2003