NEIGHBOURS of a heat and power plant intended for the Crescent Industrial Estate in Nursling should still get a good night's sleep if it gets built, a planning inspector heard.

The huge electrical generator will create only background noise, which would generally be drowned out by the nearby M27, a sound expert told the hearing into the future of the controversial proposals.

It is only during the winter, when the plant would occasionally have to run all night and the traffic would die down on the motorway, that the noise would become audible and then it would not be loud enough to wake sleeping residents. "The overall impact would result in no demonstrable harm to residents," said John Richardson of Acoustic Technology Limited.

"The key thing is that you would be able to hear the plant in lulls in the traffic but it is below that level which would cause sleep disturbance," he added.

The £25m proposal is intended to provide cheap hot water direct to more than 10,000 homes across Southampton, possibly slashing heating bills by as much as 15 per cent.

The hot water would be created as a natural by-product from the electricity generator and piped direct to houses in the area.

But Test Valley council, which controls the land, threw the planning application out saying it would spoil countryside views in the area.

Instead they suggested two other sites, one at Test Lane, Redbridge and the other at the Nursling Industrial Estate.

But both alternatives were rejected by the company behind the proposals, who have appealed against their decision. Nursling Generating boss Mark Dingman said the alternatives were too costly and the Test Lane site risked damaging a nearby Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The appeal has one more day to run, with closing arguments being heard on Friday December 14.