May Week festivities have been hit by early complaints from residents over "excessive" noise levels.

Hughes Hall May Ball, held on Saturday night, was the subject of resident complaints to Cambridge City Council, after noise levels kept some awake until 5am on Sunday morning.

Cambridge City Council explained that they "received a number of calls about excessive noise from the Ball at Hughes Hall and sound levels were reduced to an extent, though not sufficiently to prevent further calls".

Hughes Hall Ball President, Faisal Darras, told Varsity that the committee had tried their best to keep the sound under control by working closely with the Council, and "regretted if any residents were upset by it".

He explained that several calls had been received from annoyed residents throughout the night, and that a call made just before 5am led to the music being ended at that time; lounge music which had been planned to accompany breakfast was cancelled in order to prevent further antagonism.

Describing it as "unfortunate that neighbours were disturbed by the noise", Darras pointed out that the ball was taking place on a weekend night, which meant that most residents were "quite understanding".

He also mentioned the logistical challenges presented by the Hughes Hall site, with the single area in the college suitable for Ball use being bounded by residential housing.

Some local residents, in response to Saturday night, have called for future May balls to finish by 1am. Several residents make the point that GCSE and A level students living in the Cambridge vicinity are disturbed during their exam period.

Comments made by residents include suggestions for Colleges to hold events every three year, or for the Corn Exchange to be used as an alternative venue.

However, Cambridge City Council are optimistic that other May balls taking place this week will “have their control measures and their monitoring regimes in place so that we do not see noise problems like these repeated”.

Residential criticisms of May week festivities are a recurrent problem, with music at last year's Jesus May Ball being forced to end two hours before their allotted time in response to complaints.