BOSSES at RAF Brize Norton have been accused of “torturing” nearby residents with noise from the new Hercules aircraft.

The base has received about 50 complaints since the planes moved from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire on July 1 – about five times as many as the same period last year.

Residents have said engines have been tested until 5am.

Base chiefs plan to hold meetings with residents to explain the situation and try to find a solution.

Julian Perry, who runs a dental practice from his home in Black Bourton, said noise had increased substantially since the planes arrived.

He said: “All the residents appreciate the strategic importance of RAF Brize Norton, but this noise is completely off the Richter scale.

“They have decided to get the planes on the runway and warm up the engines at full, screaming tilt almost every night between 1am and 5am.

“You cannot function as a human being when you are denied sleep every single night. We are being tortured.

“I have spoken to a huge number of residents in the village and some people are almost suicidal about it.”

Mr Perry said the base should test the engines during the day and not at night.

Ann Cadogan, of Station Road in Black Bourton, said: “The Hercules are incredibly noisy.

“Since they have arrived, we have all had broken sleep three or four times a week.

“Last night I was kept awake until about 3am with the engines running.”

Black Bourton Parish Council chairman Anne Sherriff said: “The problem is prolonged noise levels, particularly at night and at weekends.

“It is much more intense than we have ever known it before. We would like to see a huge reduction in engine runs and engine testing.”

Alvescot Parish Council chairman Clive Merrills said: “It is worse than anybody anticipated and there is a lot of disquiet amongst villagers in relation to it.”

RAF Brize Norton spokesman Katie Zasada said the base had received about 50 complaints, a rise from about nine for the same period last year.

Ms Zasada said an increase in complaints about noise was expected, but the rise had still been more than anticipated.

She said: “It is probably a 25 per cent increase over what we expected. We did not anticipate the number of engine ground runs.”

Thirty-three Hercules are based at Brize but, due to commitments abroad, usually not all are there at any one time.

Ms Zasada said less Hercules had been stationed at the base than was expected and so each was having to run more missions – to destinations including Libya and Afghanistan – meaning more maintenance had to be done at night for a quicker turnaround of each plane.

She added: “When the aircraft come back the engineers work on them and they need to do engine runs to make sure they have fixed them.

“Without the test the aircraft would not be able to go out, and that could have dire consequences.”

In the last two weeks, the aircraft have been moved to a different part of the base, further away from residential areas, if the testing is going to last more than 30 minutes.

And, if the test is going to happen after 7pm, a wing commander must give permission.

Ms Zasada said: “We are listening to residents and taking feedback from them to see if changes does have an impact.”