RESIDENTS in the east of the borough who have once more been subject to late night noise blitz from piling work at DP World's London Gateway port have received another apology.

Matters came to a head last month when residents complained about the excessive and continual loud noise from a piling operation as the port builds its new fourth berth.

London Gateway apologised at the time and made a commitment that whenever possible they would not work later than 9pm, and never more than for six hours a day.

However, that pledge has been broken in recent days. Yesterday, for example, work went on until well past 10.30pm.

Today, after Thurrock Nub News contacted the port, a further apology and explanation was forthcoming.

It reads: "We would like to say that we are very sorry to anyone who was disturbed by the unavoidable requirement to carry out piling work later than we would have liked at the beginning of this week.

"We are at a critical stage of the construction process where the foundations of the new fourth berth are being put into the River Thames and we made the council aware that this would regrettably mean working late because of the tight programme deadline.

"We would like to reassure everyone that we have agreed with our contractor to do everything we can to avoid late evening piling whenever possible, with no plans to go beyond 9pm tonight. Our contractor has also modified the piling methods and is closely monitoring noise levels to minimize impacts on local residents. The impacts of the work and mitigation measures remain under close review.

"We would reiterate that the construction works are supporting up to 1,000 jobs and when the site is completed in five years' time the port and adjacent logistics park will be home to more than 12,000 jobs, most of which will be filled by local people.

"The current works are fundamental to creating these jobs in the medium-term and will play a central role in helping to regenerate the local area for generations to come."