Fed-up residents living next to a site where a new learning campus is being built have told how construction work is driving them to despair.

The multi-million pound project will bring Neilston Primary, St Thomas’ Primary and the Madras Family Centre together on a shared site.

Planning permission was granted with conditions in June last year and construction work began this summer.

Condition 13 of the agreement states that, during construction, no activities which are “liable to cause disturbance to occupiers of nearby existing properties” can be carried out before 8am or after 7pm on Mondays to Fridays and before 8am or after 1pm on Saturdays, with a total ban in place for Sundays.

However, those living in Duncarnock Crescent have said noise, vibrations and dust from the site outwith these times has been unbearable.

Mary McNicol, one of the residents who is affected, told the Barrhead News: “The pile-driving was the worst of all. It started at 8am, which is totally outrageous. Thank God that’s stopped but now they are putting in steel and still banging away.

“They have actually been in breach of their contract because, some mornings, they start at 7am but they are not supposed to start until 8am.

“Also, they are only supposed to work six days a week but, sometimes, they work on Sunday as well.

“I’ve had to go to my son’s flat to get away from it all.”

Ian Davidson, who also lives in Duncarnock Crescent, added: “They have been starting work from 7am, which wasn’t so bad necessarily in the summer but now, with the darker mornings, more folk are sleeping.”

Mary, 72, said the disturbance is bad for her health.

“Since the pile-driving, I’ve had headaches,” she added.

“I’ve had my tinnitus back, which means I don’t sleep at night.

“I have had to put in new windows, I’ve had to have my gutters fixed, there is a cracked tile in my bathroom, my Sky dish sometimes doesn’t work at all, the internet disappears.

“We’ve got another 18 months of this.”

A spokesperson for East Renfrewshire Council said: “Works on this site require to comply with the conditions of the planning consent.

“If works do require to be undertaken outwith the agreed hours of operation, they should not cause disturbance to occupiers of nearby properties, in line with Condition 13 of the planning consent.”