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A Ministry of Defence firing range in West Wales is making so much noise at night that it is forcing a neighbour to leave his home.

Residents who live next to a training firing range in Pembrokeshire are complaining that “unacceptable noise” is keeping them awake at night and even causing homes to shake as late as 11.30pm.

Castlemartin Range, located six miles from the town of Pembroke, is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is one of 12 British Army training bases in the UK, set in 6,000 acres of land. It is the only UK Army range used for direct-fire live gunnery exercises

The range has been operational since 1938 and is situated within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

It provides a vital training base for the Army, and at times the Royal Air Force and Royal Marines.

Firing exercises take place during the day and night-time, but now some residents have had enough and are calling on the MoD to show a duty of care to those who live nearby.

One of those residents, who did not wish to be named, said: “The other night, I could hear firing and explosions going off well past 11pm at night. It’s so loud that I can feel my chest vibrate and the whole house shakes.

“It’s got to the stage where I have to leave the house because the noise is incredible.

“I know the Army has to train somewhere but they should have a duty of care to residents; there’s a lot of us that feel the same.

“The MoD should be taking readings of the noise levels to make sure that residents are not exposed to dangerous levels of noise.

“You can feel the pressure before the noise hits you, and the worst part is there doesn’t seem to be anything that we can do; there’s nowhere where we, the residents, can log our complaints.”

(Image: Wales News Service)

What the MoD says about the noise

The MoD has defended its practices by insisting that night firing is an “essential” part of their training.

It also insists that night firing is only carried out twice a week, and that residents are always made aware of it. They do admit, however, that firing does go on until 11.30pm.

An MoD spokesman said: “Night firing is an essential part of ensuring our soldiers are prepared for all combat eventualities, and is only conducted when necessary.

“We notify the public of our live fire schedule on our website and social media channels a month in advance.”

(Image: MOD)

This explanation doesn’t hold much water with the man who lives within earshot of the training range, however, who says that 11.30pm is too late for loud firing to take place, and has accused the training base of being rude.

“Local people are just being disregarded," he said.

“If I was doing some building work, I would have the decency to stop after 9pm, out of courtesy to others. It’s just bad manners more than anything.”