Angry neighbors in a quiet village described the recurring sound of the local corner shop’s doorbell as “Chinese water torture.”
The Premier store, which receives hundreds of visitors every day, is equipped with a sensor that emits a sound every time the automatic door opens to alert backroom staff to the customers.
Although the bell is located at the back of the store, residents on the same street can hear the two beeps throughout the day – from when the store opens at 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Publishing editor Ashley Yeo, 64, who lives three doors down from the shop in Totland on the Isle of Wight, said the noise was “unavoidable” and “not natural”.
Mr Yeo said: “We could hear it from quite high up the street. I got up at five to six to close the windows, now it is 20 to seven, which is still too early.”
Neighbours in a quiet village described the repeated ringing of the corner shop’s doorbell as “Chinese water torture”.
Pictured: Phil Yates 64, Ashley Yeo 64 and Angela Critoph 62 check out the Isle of Wight Premier Shop
Pictured: The ringing triggered by the sensor on the entrance door of the Premier supermarket in Totland on the Isle of Wight (circled)
Pictured: The Premier supermarket in Totland, Isle of Wight
“We contacted the owner, but he did not want to refuse the offer and has now rejected it.”
“We can hear it in the back bathroom, I can hear it all the time when I’m working, at first we could hear it with the windows closed. I wrote a letter to the local paper and said it was like a bird pecking on the head.”
“They get deliveries, we don’t mind ordinary commercial noises, we don’t want to hurt his business, but we don’t want to pay the price, that sound is not natural.”
A spokesman for the store said he had already rejected the offer and could “do nothing further.”
Mr Yeo said the council had been very supportive of the Department of Environment and Health and had taken recordings even though noise levels were “floating” enough to file a complaint.
“The city council came several times and will be back at the beginning of September. The official from the environmental health office came to our neighbor’s house, sat on the lawn and was in the shop, he talked to them.
“They agreed it was noisy. He is not sure if it was a public nuisance. We cannot praise him enough,” Mr Yeo said.
His partner, curtain maker Angela Critoph, 62, also finds the noise frustrating and says they have to keep their windows closed during the day.
Ms Critoph said: “We have chosen to keep the windows closed during the day. We have the right to wake up whenever we want.”
“We went out last night and as soon as we got to the garage (next to her house) it was ‘welcome back.’ It’s actually something we don’t want to talk about. It seems like a small thing, but it’s not.”
Lisa Toyne, 65, runs the post office in Totland, directly opposite the Premier store, but says the noise bothers her less because she is only there from 8am to 1pm.
Publishing editor Ashley Yeo, 64, said the noise was “unavoidable” and “not natural.”
Lisa Toyne, 65, who runs the post office in Totland, said the noise was like “Chinese water torture”
Heather Titterton, 64, who lives across the street from the store, said she is now used to the noise and “doesn’t notice it anymore.”
Although the bell is located at the back of the store, residents on the same street report that they can hear the two beeps throughout the day.
The Premier store, which receives hundreds of visitors every day, has a sensor that sounds every time the automatic door opens to alert backroom staff to customers
Ms Toyne said: “Now that they’ve turned it down it’s not so bad, but at the beginning it was very loud.”
“It’s a bit like Chinese water torture. I understand their problem, when they’re at the back they have to hear when someone comes in. It’s so bad for the residents, I can imagine it’s a lot.”
A neighbour, who did not give her name, lives between Mr Yeo and Ms Critoph and said the shop reported the chimes could be heard throughout the house and garden.
“It’s very, very loud. At six in the morning you can hear it if you have the windows open. You can hear it in the back garden, they’ve turned it down.
“It’s like I’m playing music from six in the morning until ten at night. It’s a nuisance. In the summer you want to have the windows open,” said the neighbor.
The store’s alarm system was turned on at the end of March, but after two months the volume was turned down due to complaints from neighbors. The alarm system is now set to the quietest setting.
They previously had an alarm attached to a doormat, but it wasn’t as loud.
Kumar Sivalingam, 51, owns the corner store on Broadway. He said the alarm system is necessary because only one employee is working at a time and so he is not always behind the cash register.
“There’s an employee working here who might be in the back storage room and not behind the cash register. The bell is in the back, how can they hear it through so many walls,” he said.
Sue Adams, 59, who manages the store, said the alarm was necessary for safety reasons and was not intended to “inconvenience” anyone.
Ms Adams said: “Ultimately it’s a security system. When you’re in the beer cave you can’t hear the door because we have beer coolers running.”
“We can’t hear when someone comes in, we don’t want to bother them. They were horrible, it’s gone crazy. It was loud (in March), I have to admit, if I had parked across the street I would have heard it.”
Kumar Sivalingam, 51, owns the store on the corner of Broadway and said the alarm was necessary because only one employee was working at a time.
Rebecca Johnson, 50, said she could not hear the noise at all and praised the “brilliant” store
The store had the alarm system installed at the end of March and turned the sound down after two months due to complaints from neighbors.
The alarm is now set to the quietest setting. They previously had an alarm that was attached to a doormat, but it was not as loud
Although some residents are frustrated by this, others say they have become accustomed to the noise and that it is better since they turned it down.
Rebecca Johnson, 50, who lives next door to the Premier, on the other side of Mr Yeo and Ms Critoph, said she could not hear the noise at all and praised the “brilliant” store.
“We live right next door, it’s a great shop. How on earth can they hear that? I was in my garden and couldn’t hear it, and my hearing is fine.”
“The buses make more noise, they must have super-strong hearing. If we have the windows open at night, we can’t hear anything.”
“It’s more of a benefit to the community,” says Ms. Johnson, who works as a security officer in a nursing home.
Heather Titterton, 64, who lives across the street from the store, said she is now used to the noise and “doesn’t notice it anymore.”
Pensioner Mrs Titterton said: “I don’t hear it in my back garden, they’ve turned it down and now I don’t notice it at all.”
“It’s ridiculous, I very rarely leave the house but it really doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t wake me up. It wasn’t a problem for me, it was just loud.”
“It’s very convenient for getting emergency supplies, everyone is very friendly, it’s very, very popular.”
Lacy Prichard, 67, lives around the corner from the store and cannot hear the noise herself, but believes the “high-walled Victorian buildings” on Broadway may reflect the noise in a certain direction.
The retired nurse said: “That’s a problem with Victorian buildings with their high walls, because any noise bounces off the building.”
“I can imagine (the sound) reflecting back and forth from Broadway. The sound waves hit the buildings. I understand that would be a problem if you lived on Broadway.”
