RESIDENTS are up in arms over loud late-night music from a new Christmas festival - with one considering renting a cottage to escape the noise.

Josephina Archibald, who lives in Old Steine, Brighton, said a fair at the festival, which opened last week, is "ludicrous and unnecessary" and said she was not consulted about the plans.

She said: "I did not know it was going to be erected until it was already built.

"I have spent £150 on removals to move my bedroom into my lounge at the rear as the bedroom is unusable while the fair is there.

"The upper flats cannot hear their TVs and anyone that wants to go to sleep early is out of luck."

Josphina said the festival was "the tip of the iceberg of issues in the area", with "chaos and mayhem" caused from student nights and other events in the area.

"My boyfriend who has served in the Army likens it to being in Beirut," she said.

"Living here gets harder and harder every year with more events over the road for no other reason than to create revenue at the residents' expense.

"Having a funfair across the road from residential properties when there is one directly on the pier is ludicrous and unnecessary.

"I have been here for 20 years and never have I felt so pushed out and undervalued as a city member and contributor. Never have I paid so much to live here and received so little."

She said that she was even considering hiring a cottage through Airbnb to get away from it all, which she said could cost her around £4,000.

Gary Farmer, founder of the Old Steine Community Association, said the noise was like "having your neighbours hold a house party every night for 36 nights" and said something has to be done to manage the sound, which goes on to 11pm.

He said: "The fairground music is constant and blares out into all these listed buildings. You can feel the music vibrating when it has a heavy bass.

"The idea that we have to live with this until basically January is not acceptable. We have no problem with the fair, but the controls on the sound seem to be non-existent.

"It's like a carnival has arrived in town and we all have to suddenly endure a Christmas of Justin Bieber and Little Mix."

He pointed out that, as many of the homes in the area are listed buildings, residents are forbidden from using any effective double glazing that could block out noise from the funfair.

Gary said that he sought assurances from organisers E3 Events before the festival opened, but that complaints since it opened have gone unanswered.

"No one is taking responsibility and no one seems to be available to talk about it - just turn it down," he said.

The festival, including the funfair, is due to be open until December 31.

E3 Events was contacted for comment.

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