ENVIRONMENTAL health chiefs are to investigate complaints about the level of noise from the weekend's Homelands dance festival near Winchester.

Exact details of the numbers complaining about being kept awake will not be released for a few weeks, however.

Gene Kemp was so frustrated by the distant beat of the music from Saturday to the early hours of Sunday that he contacted the local environmental health officers twice during the night.

Despite living five miles from the Matterley Bowl, near Cheesefoot Head, where the dance festival was held, he could not get to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

The officers told him they had been inundated with calls from residents at Badgers Farm and Oliver's Battery.

Mr Kemp added: "I couldn't sleep until 4am - it wasn't so much the volume but the throb and beat of the music.

"I've got no problem with people enjoying themselves, but it has caused distress by keeping us awake."

A spokesman from Hampshire Police said the event involving 32,000 revellers had gone smoothly considering the potential for trouble. There were 32 arrests during the 18-hour dance festival, mostly for drugs offences and forged tickets.

Police stated that they had received 12 complaints of noise. Mr Kemp added: "The environmental health team told me they were rushed off their feet in the night, so I can't believe there were only 12 complaints.''

Council environmental chiefs were unavailable to comment on the number of noise complaints, but promised that details would be released.

The council is duty-bound to investiagte each complaint made and report back to councillors with possible recommendations for preventing a reccurence.

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