Whistling bridge baffles engineers

The Shaldon Bridge was officially opened this week after £3m of strengthening and widening work.

But its piercing F-sharp tone is keeping residents awake at night, and on one occasion has even disrupted a church service.

It is believed changes in the bridge's structure could be deflecting the wind.

Reg Ashbury from Shaldon recorded the whistle to demonstrate how just how bad it was.

He said: "There are really two aspects of it. One is humorous and most people can see the funny side of it.

"But to people living nearby, it is a nuisance and it has been taken seriously."

Councillors said re-building the bridge was a great success. It was finished on time despite terrible weather.

But engineers are still baffled about the whistle.

Edward Cholton, Devon County Council's Environment Director, said: "We're discussing it with noise experts and looking at the details.

Intermittent problem

"They're looking at if the hardwood hand-rail, for people to lean on when they look at the view, is having an effect on the wind direction and speed."

The reason the problem is difficult to track down is because it is intermittent.

It only tends to whistle in high winds at night and normally there are no engineers present.

Councillor David Morrish from the county council said: "Clearly, if it becoming a nuisance to nearby residents, that's another issue.

"But the assurance I'm getting from engineers is that it is a problem they can manage and I'm sure they will."