FURIOUS residents say have been left with “strong migraines”, “coughs” and “sore throats” after filming took place for the new ‘The Flash’ movie in the Merchant City. 

Locals living on Cochrane Street have hit out at production bosses at Warner Bros. after “excessive gas” entered their property from nearby generators last month. 

The homeowners claim that the energy-producing machines had been left on for an excessive amount of time, allowing pollution to make way into their homes during the warm weather.

Glasgow Times:

One resident - who wished not to be named - said: “The generators had black smoke coming out of them which gave us really strong migraines, coughs, sore throats and made us feel nauseous. 

“Due to the heatwave we couldn’t close our windows for a long period of time so it would essentially allow excessive gas to enter our flat as our windows face the street the generators were placed on.

“There were so many of them along our street. Even when they weren’t on there were always trucks coming and going and bringing in a lot of pollution to the area.”

The cooped-up residents - who are working from home - claim that shooting of the new superhero film even impacted their ability to sleep due to the generator being left on during “all hours of the day”. 

“It was an endless cycle”, the local claimed.

Glasgow Times:

“Some of these machines were running for seven hours a day and often well into midnight where they’d be switched back on at 6am. We lost a lot of sleep.

“Don’t get me wrong, we got to watch Batman which was amazing but we also really need to get a decent night sleep and be able to do our jobs properly the following day.”

Since the filming took place, homeowners have lodged an official complaint to Glasgow City Council’s Film Office, which assists film companies to identify desired film locations. 

The resident added: “We are more than aware that we should expect loud noises in the city centre but this is the worst noise we have ever experienced.

“We have lived here for four years and our street has been used for various different films and they were all completely fine - there were no issues whatsoever. 

“It would have been helpful if we received a letter highlighting what we could expect, but we didn’t. If we did, we would have rescheduled our holiday to avoid it all.”

Merchant City and Trongate Community Council are currently compiling a list of complaints from residents to take to the local authority’s film office.

Glasgow Times:

They aim to ensure similar incidents do not happen again while the “historic centre” is used for filming.

Chairman Dr Duncan MacLaren said: “Both residents and the community council of Merchant City and Trongate are not against filming in the city centre. 

“But, the council’s film office and the film producers must remember that people live here and need freedom of access to their homes and to be able to open their windows on hot summer days without toxic fumes coming in through generators parked too near flats. 

“The Community Council took residents’ complaints to the officer in charge of filming in the Council and some generators were moved but not, in some cases, at a sufficient distance. 

“We will be making a list of complaints to ensure that the filming office takes account of them when arranging for further films to be shot in Glasgow’s historic centre.”

Glasgow Times:

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “A council officer – in the roads team who deals with filming issues – was indeed in touch with the community council on these issues and did all he could to meet the needs and concerns raised – centring on the generators – including asking that the production acted to address them. 

“I understand that ‘sound baffles’ were placed around the generators – which are apparently amongst the quietest available – to reduce any noise further.

“The Glasgow Film Office acknowledged all emails from the resident in question and brought each one to the production’s attention as her issue was solely with the production’s activities.

“The Glasgow Film Office described to the resident what was being done to mitigate the situation, measures that were known to our Environmental Health team and presented no issue to them.  Please note that other concerns by residents were addressed by the production in the same manner and seemed to resolve the situation.”

Filming of the new blockbuster saw hundreds of movie fanatics take to the city streets to catch a glimpse of Batman. 

The movie, expected to screens next year, stars both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton who will play a younger and older Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

The Glasgow Times approached Warner Bros. for comment.