Brechin residents were awake all night as the town’s cathedral bells chimed for almost 12 hours.
The peace of the Angus town was shattered overnight on Sunday, with several locals complaining they couldn’t get a wink of sleep because of the noise.
It is not yet known why the bells chimed throughout the night.
Brechin Cathedral bells ‘pretty annoying’
Resident Kimberley Clelland said she got three hours sleep on Sunday because of the bells.
Kimberley said: “It was pretty annoying,
“I got in just after 10pm on Sunday and the bells were ringing.
“At midnight they were still ringing. By 2am they were still ringing and they were beginning to annoy me because it had gone on for so long.
“I was starting to question if I was hearing things but, nope, it was still going at 5 o’clock – that’s when I gave in.
“So all I had was three hours’ sleep on Sunday.”
‘Surprise’ that noise never stopped
Chelsea Saunders said she, too, had a long sleepless night thanks to the noise.
She said: “It’s been a long night with little sleep. It’s been a nightmare, constant bell ringing since 9.30pm.
“They finally went off at 8am on Monday. Not sure if they are broken but they haven’t chimed since.
“I’m actually surprised no one from the cathedral went to sort it.”
Another resident Tim Crowther told The Courier it was “pretty annoying.”
He said: “We stay quite a distance away so I can’t imagine what it was like for the people who live next door to it.
“It’s not the best night’s sleep and quite ironic for the church to be the source of antisocial behaviour.”
Tim added: “I understand it’s an electronic system so maybe it just got stuck on a loop.”
Future of Brechin Cathedral unknown
Earlier this year the Friends of Brechin Cathedral embarked on a major community consultation over the future of the historic landmark.
The cathedral celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2020 – but in the same year Angus Presbytery agreed to the dissolution of the church.
The final regular Sunday service in the A-listed building was held in late 2021.
Last year, the Society of Friends of Brechin Cathedral was set up after reaching agreement with the Church of Scotland to manage its running.
It means ceremonies such as weddings have still been able to take place.
However, securing the building’s long-term future is the group’s key aim.
Caretaker at the Cathedral, Douglas Taylor said he had been made aware of the situation and had gone down on Monday morning to switch the system off.
Mr Taylor said: “I think there must be something wrong with the timer.
“We are getting an engineer to take a look but given that the bells have been switched off there should be no repeat of what happened on Sunday night.”
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