How noisy is your road?

• New DEFRA website launched
• Publishes noise levels in 23 urban areas
• Will be used to cut unreasonable noise levels

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Are you plagued by road noise?

Well, if you live in one of 23 urban areas assessed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), now you can find out just how noisy it is.

DEFRA has published noise levels across almost 50,000 square miles of roads in urban areas and 17,000 miles of major urban roads.

The research has been published on a website (www.defra.gov.uk/noisemapping), which can be found by clicking here.

Areas mapped are: Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Coventry, Hull, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Southend, Teeside, The Potteries, Tyneside, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

The information is being used to draw up action plans to reduce unreasonable levels of noise, where practical. In urban areas, these will also include measures to protect designated quiet areas.

The site also includes information on the number of people exposed to these levels of noise.