Noisy Macca told to turn it down

Sir Paul McCartney has been ordered to turn down the volume at Millennium Dome practice sessions after floods of complaints from irate neighbours.

They claim the former Beatle's " booming" singing is carrying straight across the river and blasting into their homes in the Isle of Dogs.

Now Greenwich Council is understood to have banned Sir Paul - using the Dome as a rehearsal venue for his impending European tour - from playing louder than 92 decibels. Eric Pembertonone of the residents who complained-said: "We've had excessive noise all week - and I mean excessive.

"It's absolutely booming out. Even with all my doors and windows shut I can still hear the racket."

If the 61-year-old star expected residents to welcome the opportunity to hear him perform free, he was mistaken.

Mr Pemberton, 67, said: "I phoned the council to complain and they said 'Paul

McCartney's playing!' as if I should be pleased."

He added: "I couldn't care less about him, frankly. I'd love to invite him over here and make him listen to this racket he's making."

Just as unimpressed was Jeffrey Muller, 39, who said he "wouldn't mind so much if it was Santana". He said: "It's just a constant droning of bass - you can't make out any songs."

After flooding the council with complaints since the rehearsals started last week, the residents succeeded in getting Sir Paul to turn down the volume.

"Environmental health officers from Greenwich and Tower Hamlets personally visited me and promised Sir Paul won't be allowed to play louder than 92 decibels," Mr Pemberton said. "That's still bloody loud, but it's a big improvement."

The Dome's owner, English Partnerships, would not comment and even refused to confirm if Sir Paul has set foot in the £800 million venue.

But staff at the Dome defended the noise levels. A source said: "Sir Paul is only playing from midday to 6pm on weekdays."

The source admitted the

Dome's thin plastic roof offers little sound proofing, but added: "Since the complaints, Sir Paul has just been playing off the monitors and isn't using the PA system. We don't want to annoy anybody and we take complaints very seriously."

A Greenwich Council spokeswoman confirmed Sir Paul would continue rehearsals at the Dome.

"There have been complaints, mainly from residents on the other side of the river because apparently the water carries the sound particularly well," she said. "We have dates within the coming week to meet Sir Paul and the production team to discuss the situation and to review it."

The star has reportedly paid £250,000 to rent the Dome for three weeks before his 14-date European tour starts on 25 May in Gijon, Spain.

His spokesman was unavailable for comment.