TWO students claim their lives have been made a misery since their student accommodation provider started letting out apartments through Booking.com

The pair, aged 19 and 20, said they had regularly been kept awake this summer at The Towpath, Tower Wharf, near Telford’s Warehouse pub.

Student Roost, which runs the apartment block, began advertising empty rooms on the popular travel booking website in June, despite not having planning permission to do so.

However, Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) said this was perfectly legitimate as long as the company accepted there was a risk of losing bookings should permission be refused.

A ‘temporary change of use’ application has been submitted to the council and will be considered by the planning team by this Thursday (August 15).

The two young women, who did not wish to be named, contacted The Standard to raise awareness of the issues the move had caused.

“We were told it would only ever be students living there,” said one. “We’ve had people screaming and shouting all night. It’s horrendous, you just can’t get to sleep.

“I had to tell them to shut up the other weekend. It was a group of middle-aged people who were drunk.

“We just don’t know who they are letting in here.”

The second student added: “We are both looking for jobs at the moment. I had to do a job interview on an hour’s sleep the other day.”

The pair say they each pay around £8,000 a year to stay at the Towpath and have been there for two years. The block can accommodate up to 335 people.

A spokesman for CWaC said the authority was investigating whether the move to allow short-term holiday lettings had led to any nuisance behaviour in the area.

He added: “The planning application was validated on the 10 of July and no decision will be made before the end of the consultation period which is August 15, 2019.

“Any activity that the applicants take prior to the issuing of planning permission is entirely at their own risk. If planning permission isn't given the company will be responsible for dealing with any unfulfilled bookings.”

A total of 17 residents have lodged objections to the application on the council's website.

A spokesman for Student Roost told this newspaper they had received no formal complaints about noise or disruption.

She said: “During traditionally quieter periods on the academic schedule, it is common for student accommodation providers to open up vacant rooms to provide extra inventory for visitors and support in-bound tourism to towns and cities during the summer months.

“In the time since we opened up some of our rooms in our Chester Towpath property tobooking.com, we have not received any formal complaints about noise or disruption and we would welcome the opportunity to address any concerns in person.

She added: “Student Roost takes noise complaints very seriously and will always treat disruptive guests in the same manner, irrespective of them being students or linked to our summer business with Booking.com.”