NOISE complaints directed at Southend Airport more than doubled in the Covid pandemic, despite planes rarely getting off the ground.

The number of official complaints filed rocketed while frustrated neighbours were stuck in their homes, shooting up from 6,711 to 15,737, in the year up until February this year.

Controversial Amazon night flights from the airport are believed to be the cause of all the criticism, with residents suffering from sleepless nights.

It comes as the number of staff employed at the airport fell by half since the pandemic began.

At the end of February, 869 staff were on the books, down from 1,536 the year before.

Southend Airport has been urged to scrap night flights and invest in “greener jobs”, after it published its annual report this week.

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David Smith, who has submitted more than 1,000 noise complaints to the airport, demanded action is taken over the night flights.

The 71-year-old, of Byrne Drive, a road sandwiched between the airport and the busy A127, said: “Residents are suffering, the night flights are causing that.

“It’s not remarkable that the complaints have gone up, residents have woken up and found their voice.

“We’ve suffered since the night flights were launched in 2019, and nothing has changed since.”

Glyn Jones, CEO of Southend Airport, revealed this month that the airport is in talks with Amazon to use quieter aircraft for the cargo flights overnight.

It’s hoped the delivery firm will replace the current aircraft, the Boeing 737400, with a quieter carrier, the Boeing 737800, to lessen the impact on residents with its quieter sound.

Mr Jones previously admitted it “wouldn’t be perfect.”

The number of residents filing noise complaints fell from 708 to 431, with more than half of all complaints coming from 20 address, with more than 5,300 coming from six residents.

Carole Mulroney, Southend councillor in charge of environment, culture, tourism and planning, also called for an end to the flights. She added: “Just because complaints come from a concentrated number of houses, it doesn’t make them any less valid.

“If they are within the thresholds action cannot be taken under the agreement.

“The issue needs to be kept live with the airport.

“I want the airport to get on with a meaningful environmental action plan that mitigates some of the main issues.

“They have committed to that and recently to negotiating for quieter aircraft.

“I want that to come to fruition but it will not take away the opposition to night flights.”

In response, the airport says it has launched its Connecting Communities Commitment which has a focus on employment skills and engagement via forums.

The environmental action plan helps to tackle climate change and reduce the impact on nearby residents.

The new “connecting the community” commitment involves making progress toward a carbon neutral airport operation.

Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, who has previously called for the night flights to be scrapped, added: “This is a huge jump in the number of complaints regarding noise and these complaints have come from a large number of households. There are laws regulating noise, these must be enforced, and the airport should respond accordingly.”

The airport is also recruiting staff, and bosses have encouraged Southend residents to apply.

A spokesman from Southend Airport, said: "The past year has been the toughest on record for all the aviation industry, and as a result, sadly many people across the aviation industry have lost their jobs.

"At London Southend Airport, easyJet closed its base and our airport concessions have been closed for a significant portion of the year.

"This follows a 93 per cent fall in passengers during the year.

"Sadly, despite that significant fall in the number of commercial aviation flights, we have seen an increase in complaints for the flights that have operated, with 64 per cent of those complaints coming from 20 households.

"To improve this position, we have launched our Connecting Communities Commitment which has specific pillars focused on employment skills and engagement via forums."