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An average person living near an airport stands only a 1 in 75 chance
of being woken by aircraft, according to a study on aircraft noise and sleep
disturbance financed by the Department of Transport.

The study, which looked at patterns of sleep near four British airports
– Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester – concluded that ‘once asleep,
very few people living near airports are at risk of any substantial sleep
disturbance due to aircraft noise’.

The study team used actimeters, devices like wrist-watches which measure
the movement of limbs, to determine when someone’s sleep was disturbed –
as distinct from being woken up.

The researchers divided the 40 000 hours of sleep they measured into
4.5 million 30-second stretches. Just over 5 per cent were disturbed.

In a follow-up study, people were asked why they had woken up. The most
common response was: they needed to go to the toilet.