A CHEMICALS manufacturer has been slammed for ‘taking the mick’ out of Lostock and Rudheath residents with noise likened to a jumbo jet.

Tata Chemicals Europe has been venting huge volumes of steam at its Lostock plant on Works Lane for several days, including at night, prompting an outpouring of noise complaint from its neighbours on social media.  

One resident, Carl Lewis, said ‘it’s like a jumbo jet getting ready to take off’, while another, Doreen Law, said she thought ‘Manchester Airport had changed its flight path’.

Ann Stanway said it kept her awake all night, with the noise not stopping until around 3am on Sunday, September 1.

Andy Owen, who has lived in Rudheath for 53 years, said: “Please can we pull together and put pressure on Tata by complaining to them, and the Environment Agency, to put an end to this.

"I have lived in Rudheath all my life, but Tata is really taking the mick out of Northwich residents.

“The venting of steam from Lostock was meant to be done twice a year, for 48 hours. It is now getting to be a monthly occurrence.

“I have just spoke to the gatehouse to complain.”

Tata has apologised for the inconvenience, explaining the ongoing venting is due to a scheduled plant shutdown, adding at these times, ‘noise is unfortunately inevitable’.

It said the current venting process is likely to go on until Thursday, September 5. 

A spokesman for Tata Chemicals Europe added: “As part of routine maintenance, we carry out an annual shutdown at our Lostock plant.

“The nature of our steam supply system means even when the Lostock plant is not operational, we still must supply some steam to it to keep the system warm and ready to restart production.

“This means we need to vent surplus steam at Lostock, which can create additional noise. We take various steps to keep this to a minimum, but some noise is unfortunately inevitable at these times.

“The current shutdown was communicated to all relevant parties ahead of time and is expected to be completed by Thursday, September 5.

“We will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and notify them in advance of any planned works which necessitate steam venting as we did in this case.

“Due to the noise which can be caused by the venting, we also communicate in advance with the local community through our website and our X channel, as well as contacting specific individuals who have contacted us previously about the steam venting.

“From a business point of view, having to vent steam is very costly as well as causing unwanted noise for our neighbours. We work hard to keep these unavoidable shutdowns to a minimum.  

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Some residents have raised concerns over a white residue left on cars and other surfaces at times of steam venting, though Tata say this is nothing to to do with them.

The spokesman added: “We would like to reassure everyone that the vented steam is raised from pure de-ionised water and therefore does not produce any residue or have any safety implications to the local community.”