Furious residents feel as though they’re “trapped in a prison” because of the constant noise, mess, and rat infestation they say has been caused by long-term construction work on their Stepney estate.

More than 60 people living in Gracehill House in Hannibal Road have signed a petition begging for the contractors to abide by stricter rules.

Abu Hassam, 57, told the Advertiser: “The constant noise is terrible. On some occasions work would start at 8am and go on until 11pm.

“I’m lucky because I leave to go out to work in the rag trade, but my missus has to listen to it every day. It’s like being trapped in a prison.

“We also have to deal with the mess of all the building work, and now there are mice and rats everywhere because they’ve all been disturbed.”

Southern Housing Group (SHG), the association that manages the estate, received planning permission in August 2010 to create commercial properties, additional residential homes, and a new underground car park.

The contractors, Breyer Group Plc, have already demolished a block of flats known as Fulneck, but the rest of the work is not due to be completed until early 2014.

A spokeswoman for SHG said officials are working with Breyer to tackle residents’ complaints. She said construction workers use dust sheets and water down areas to reduce dirt, conduct regular noise tests – a generator was removed recently after it was found to be too loud – and a pest control company has been brought in.

She added: “We have responded in detail to the residents’ petition. We will also send an update to them over the coming weeks as the matters they asked us to investigate proceed.

“We are in the process of opening a project office on site and we will have regular surgeries for residents to pop in to talk to staff from our development team, housing management team and the contractors.”

A Breyer spokesman said working hours are 8am-5pm, and residents are notified in advance if that timescale is likely to be exceeded. Work has never over-run by more than two hours, he said.