People living near a busy main road in Harlow, Essex have won a four-year fight to have a barrier built to stop traffic noise.

Harlow District Council agreed that a sound barrier would be built when it approved the widening of Second Avenue in 1999.

A year later officials reversed their decision, saying there was no need for a barrier which would be unsightly.

One resident, David Bennett, of North Grove, took court action to force the council to review the need for a barrier.

At a council meeting on Tuesday night the sound barrier was finally approved.

The estimated cost of the 130-metre timber sound barrier is �15,000.