HOLIDAYING householders whose burglar alarms drive neighbours mad while they're away risk being billed to cover the cost of silencing them.

As summer holidays hot up, Malvern Hills District Council is warning it has to charge a call-out fee if an engineer has to disable any alarm which fails to cut out automatically after the usual 20 minutes.

This means the house will remain unprotected against break-ins throughout the rest of the time the owners are away and householders will also face the additional expense of paying for the alarm to be repaired when they finally arrive home.

The council is now appealing to district residents with alarms to make sure they leave a key with at least two different neighbours who are prepared to go in and turn off an alarm whenever the holidaymakers are away.

Council officers say they are increasingly having to alert engineers to deal with alarms which fail to turn themselves off.

"If your home is fitted with an alarm, make sure there is someone around who can switch it off and reset it while you are away," said Coun Clive Smith, portfolio holder for community safety.

Homeowners who want more information about burglar alarms and the council's powers to curb noise nuisance can telephone the Environmental Health Unit on 01684 862305.