Warrington is among the noisiest places in the UK, with almost half of its population exposed to high noise levels regularly.
Government data, analysed by Zinus, showed that the Cheshire town suffers the second-worst levels of noise pollution in the country. Looking at figures for road noise, railway noise and industrial sounds, Zinus were able to find areas of the UK where the largest percentage of the population live with decibel noise over a constant 55 decibels - viewed as being regularly exposed to high noise levels.
Zinus found 49% of Warrington 's population live in an area which regularly reaches 55 decibels. This meant that the town was only second to Slough, which was the worst affected area in the UK, reports CheshireLive. 60% of Slough's 165,000 population live in areas which regularly reach 55 decibels.
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Other areas in the North West featured in the top ten. With 38% of its population regularly exposed to high noise levels, Wigan came in eighth, ahead of Greater Manchester.
Zinus looked at the noise data to see how it affects sleep. It looked at what is most likely to keep people awake, surveying 450 customers.
It found:
- 47% of adults have struggle sleeping on a weekly basis
- 57% get less than 8 hours of sleep most nights
- 35% worry about their sleep quality all the time
- 41% majority said other household members caused the most sleep disturbances, followed by noise and temperature at 30%
- 10% said stress and anxiety prevented them from sleeping well
- 28% said music was the most effective sleep aid, followed by using a humidifier (22%) or fan (19%)
- 94% sleep with a partner, pet or child in the bed with them