A WOMAN was left fuming when she found council workers digging up a road outside her bedroom window at 10.30pm.

Joanne Smalley said she was given "no warning" about the overnight road works in Beaconsfield on Wednesday last week, which kept her up until 5am the next day.

Her home fronts on to Station Road where the works have since continued over three further nights, between the hours of 7pm – 6am.

Joanne told the Bucks Free Press: "The entire highway was being dug up, with approximately ten vehicles reversing, digging and scraping and generally causing complete chaos directly outside my bedroom window.

"It seems to be carried out with no warning to the residents. I am told that we would have been written to, but I certainly haven't received anything. I work in central London and get up at six in the morning."

Buckinghamshire County Council said it delivered notices to "all properties impacted by the scheme" before the work started, adding information signs were put out detailing the dates and times of work.

Peter Hardy, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said overnight resurfacing works are more cost-effective and help minimise traffic disruption.

He added: "I do sympathise with the residents who are being impacted by this work, but we only make the decision to do this work at night when it is absolutely necessary and where disruption to the traffic would actually have a detrimental impact across a very wide area, impacting a huge number of people, if the road was shut during the day."

Workers try to complete the noisiest works by 11pm, he said, though Health and Safety requirements mean the reversing alarms and flashing beacons cannot be turned off.