A COUPLE spent seven months renovating their flat in Leigh...then a car wash opened up next door.

Serah and Tim Keane told how they were “stuck in a nightmare” which had put serious pressure on their marriage.

Mr Keane said the noise of power washers and vacuum cleaners at the London Road Car Wash, which is operating at the corner of London Road and Cricketfield Grove without planning permission, was unbearable.

The couple bought their flat last September and finished doing it up in April – the weekend the car wash opened.

Mrs Keane, 34, said even double-glazed windows and a blaring radio could not drown out the intrusive noise next door.

She added: “I own the ground floor flat, but I haven’t moved in yet because this has been an absolute nightmare.

“I’ve almost got divorced. We saved to live there for years and then this happens. It’s soul-wrenching, it really is.”

She also told how the water from the washers sprayed over the wall into the flat’s back garden.

Mrs Keane, who is temporarily living with Mr Keane at her mother’s house in Chalkwell Park Drive, said: “Do I tryto rent it out? Should I put it back on the market? Who would rent it?

“I’ve probably lost money on it. I’m stuck in a nightmare.”

Planning officers are urging Southend Council to shut down the business at a meeting today.

Other neighbours, around the corner in Cricketfield Grove, have not been bothered by the noise, but it was loud when the Echo visited the site.

Owner Brian Blackburn denied the car wash needed planning permission as cars had been washed at the former car showroom for 30 years and cars were still sold there, suggesting no change in use had occurred.

He has written to the council three times stating this, but the council failed to respond to him in January and only replied to his May letter the following month, after he called to complain.

The council only replied to a letter sent in July last Wednesday – after the matter was referred to the development committee to rule on enforcement action.

He said: “We have used power washers and hoovers at the site for 30 years. The complaints don’t hold water at all.

“The noise isn’t an issue. It’s really petty.

“The council hasn’t taken any noise readings.”

Lib Dem leader Graham Longley, who is also councillor for Blenheim Park ward, said: “The owners should have followed the process and law and the council should take enforcement action. The lady involved has had considerable disturbance.”