AN OKEHAMPTON man claims he has endured two and a half years of noise pollution ? and has criticised landlords West Devon Homes? handling of the complaint as ?indefensible?. Mark Jones, 40, of Ockington Close says he first complained to West Devon Homes about excessive noise from neighbouring properties in February 2003. West Devon Homes last week held an appeal hearing to look into Mr Jones? complaint. The panel said there was a ?lack of independent evidence of unacceptable noise levels? but upheld Mr Jones? complaint that his grievance had not been dealt with in a timely manner. He said he was disappointed but not surprised by the panel?s judgement. Mr Jones, a lorry driver, said the disruption was preventing him from getting a good night?s sleep and affecting his health. He said he had also contacted the environmental health department at West Devon Borough Council whose officers took recordings of the noise and witnessed it, but had not yet been able to take further action. Mr Jones said he had asked to be transferred to another property. ?I don?t want to move out of Okehampton. It has got everything I want here, except peace and quiet.? He said he had kept a record of incidents of loud noise, much of it occurring in the early hours of the morning. He had complained to his landlords more than 40 times over the two and a half year period. In coming to its judgement, the appeal panel heard recordings taken at the property but said they were unable to hear ?any significant sound levels?. The panel?s decision letter stated: ?Notwithstanding the lack of independent evidence of unacceptable noise levels, the panel also considered the adequacy of the sound insulation at your property and noted that is complies with current building regulations.? However, the panel did find there were times where ?failings in implementation? of the complaints procedure had occurred in relation to the case, specifically that correspondence was not acknowledged within the required time scale leading to delay, and inaccurate and confusing information was given about what stage the complaints procedure had reached. West Devon Homes chief executive Jean Peters said the company ?accepted responsibility? for the handling of the complaint ?taking much longer than it should have done?. Mrs Peters said: ?We installed sound recording equipment with Mr Jones? permission, which he was able to switch on and off. ?However, there was insufficient evidence from the recordings to substantiate his complaint.? Mrs Peters said West Devon Homes had made the offer to Mr Jones to reinstall the sound equipment for a longer period of time if he wished to do so. A spokesman for West Devon Borough Council?s environmental health department said an ongoing investigation into the issue was being carried out and they hoped to successfully resolve the problem. The spokesman said it was unusual for such problems to arise in such a recently built property.