DALES residents are being woken up as early as 4am by a bird-scaring device that sounds like "a shotgun".

The "noise pollution" has been happening for more than eight weeks "from dawn until dusk", despite two visits from an environmental health officer, Dent Parish Council heard at its recent meeting.

Parish clerk Scott Thornley told the Gazette the bird-scarer was being used on Blea Moor and a number of Dent residents had complained about the noise, which started as early as 4am and went on intermittently for up to 20 hours.

South Lakeland district councillor Kevin Lancaster said he believed the device was being used to protect pheasant chicks on the moorland, and it sounded "like a shotgun going off".

"It does resonate all across Dent," said Mr Lancaster. He said complaints had been passed on to SLDC and it had been hoped the problem had ceased, but the last parish council meeting had shown that "wasn't the case".

Mr Lancaster said: "Sheila [Cllr Capstick] and I share the concerns of residents and we think their annoyance is extremely understandable."

At their July meeting, parish councillors expressed the hope the issue could be resolved jointly between SLDC, the RSPB and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.