Cheltenham Borough Council has relaxed restrictions on working hours at construction sites during the coronavirus pandemic.

After the Government urged authorities to look kindly on requests for working outside normal hours to help the return to work, the council is allowing sites to work from 7am-8pm on Monday-Friday and 8am-4pm on Saturday until the end of August.

No work will be allowed on Sundays and bank holidays with no noisy work before 7.30am, after 6pm and from 1pm on Saturdays.

Councillor Steve Jordan, leader of the council, said: "The council is continually looking for ways to support its residents and economy through the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

"The construction industry has been severely impeded due to site closures and continues to be affected by social distancing requirements.

''COVID-19 has impacted many construction projects and a 10-week project could potentially now take 20 weeks to complete."

He continued: "The council understands that residents would have further noise and disruption and the relaxation of hours will help to address this, enabling projects to catch up on lost time.

"These temporary changes will also give the industry the opportunity to catch up, by giving an additional 16.5 hours a week to work.

"We urge people to abide by these new temporary arrangements and the safeguards that apply."

All requests for work outside the extended hours need to be made five days beforehand.