Families living in a major city road face weeks of sleepless nights after being warned that noisy roadworks could go on past midnight.

A section of London Road, St Albans - between Drakes Drive and Birklands Park - will be closed between 8pm and 5am for eight weeks, starting on Monday, July 3.

The £720,000 project, involving resurfacing and installing new guard rails, will involve noisy work such as jackhammering, which could go on past midnight.

Cabinet member for highways, Ralph Sangster, said: “These works form part of Herts County Council’s ongoing commitment to maintain and improve our roads for the benefit of all road users in Hertfordshire.

“I realise that the road closure on this busy road is likely to cause disruption and inconvenience to motorists and would ask everyone for their co-operation while the work is in progress.”

The council says noisier work, such as jackhammering, will be carried out at the beginning of the time slot.

It also says instances of the works going on past midnight will be very rare.

But people living nearby claim they have either received no notification or have received a leaflet with the wrong start times on it - leaving them befuddled.

Peter Ryan, of Drakes Drive, said he “would not be overly happy”.

However he said: “It needs to be done as if it’s not done now, it will take even longer.”

Sue Jackson, of Whitecroft, said: “My husband goes to work at 4am, so it’s a bit of a pain as it will disrupt his sleeping.”

She said the council had delivered a notice on the roadworks but it gave the start time as 9pm, rather than 8pm.

Several people recalled the roadworks in Drake Drive last summer, which also involved noisy resurfacing.

A Parkway Court resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “We’re not very happy about the roadworks. We never had any sleep last year.”

To add insult to injury, people may not be able to access their properties at all times, and have been asked to park elsewhere during the roadworks.

They predicted instances of it going on past midnight will be very rare.

A diversion for drivers has been drawn up.