CREDITON Dairy, which operates from a site at the heart of the town, has written to neighbours in advance of works due to take place concerning portable boilers.

It writes: “Dear Neighbour, Due to an unplanned service, we are required to shutdown both boilers on our site for approximately two weeks as of Wednesday, October 22.

“As we need to continue receiving milk daily from our dedicated farmers, we have had to install two portable boilers within the centre of site for this period of downtime.

“These will allow us to run a reduced number of processing lines, with the sole aim of moving the milk we receive on site and ensuring customer supply.

“We wanted to inform you of this temporary setup as the running of these boilers might cause a slight elevated noise level, however we have taken several measures to reduce the impact this might have on you.

“These boilers are contained within their own insulated containers, and we have been informed by the suppliers that the environmental noise impact should be negligible.

“To meet safety requirements these two boilers will need to be commissioned on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and this process will be carried out during daytime hours.

“As part of the commissioning process the pressure relief valves will need to be tested as these are integral from a safety aspect and a legal requirement.

“During the testing of these valves there will be a release of pressurised steam, and this is likely to emit a loud noise.

“We will endeavour to carry out this testing in the shortest period we can and confirm that there is no risk to any of our employees or our neighbours and no need to be alarmed.

“We would like to apologise in advance for any disruption the commissioning process might cause you and thank you for your understanding as we attempt to get these boilers serviced in a safe and timely manner.

“Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the site via: [email protected] and we will get back to you as a matter of urgency.”

On September 15, between 9.30pm and 10.11pm, a loud noise coming from Crediton Dairy caused serious concern for many local residents.

The noise was so loud that it could be heard by hundreds of people across the town, sparking a great deal of comment on social media.

Some said that they were concerned for their safety and wondered if they should evacuate from their nearby homes.

In a statement issued the following day, a Crediton Dairy spokesperson said: “We can confirm that last night during a planned cleaning of plant and pipework a steam pressure release valve activated at the Dairy which regrettably caused noise that impacted on our neighbours.

“We immediately took steps to shut down the plant and are investigating why the valve activated.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the valve operated as designed and there was no safety risk to the local community or our employees.

“Nevertheless, we would like to sincerely apologise to our neighbours for any disruption that the event caused.”

The letter to local residents delivered on Monday, October 20 has been welcomed as a sign of good practice by the company.