Noisy Shoreham Airport flights branded a ‘pain in the bum’ by neighbour

Dave Cleaver, 62, has stayed at Lancing’s Beach Park holiday park on and off for six years and said the air traffic since lockdown eased was the worst he had seen it.

He said low-flying planes could be so loud that he has to pause conversations every few minutes.

“I don’t want to sound like a miserable old man but it’s a real pain in the bum when you are sitting there and they are going over so low,” said Dave, whose latest visit to Beach Park has lasted about nine months.

“It’s impossible to hear or be heard. When you get to 100 years old like us, you’re semi-retired and want to relax a bit – you don’t want them going past all the time.

“I accept Covid has had an impact and I appreciate it’s first-world problems, but it is a nuisance. Sometimes you need a bit of peace and quiet.”

Dave complained to the airport and was told, in a response from the director of aviation services Barry Hawkins, the increase in traffic was due to private aviation enthusiasts making up for time lost during lockdown.

Before restrictions on general aviation flights were eased on May 15, Mr Hawkins said Shoreham Airport’s flights had reduced to just 1.5 per cent of their usual frequency, predominantly operating as an air base for the fight against coronavirus.

Flying then returned incrementally to the airport, he said, beginning with pilot training and only allowing general aviation to return within the last week.

He added that air traffic had now returned to around pre-lockdown levels and suggested the airport’s neighbours may have ‘got used to the quiet’ during lockdown, making the return to flying slightly jarring. The planes and flight paths are all the same as last year, he said, and he expected air traffic overall to fall under the usual level for the year.