Roadworks on the M6 will take place over one night instead of two following complaints from residents.

Work to install two lots of gantries in preparation to open the hard shoulder up to cars in rush hour will be done overnight on February 19. It comes after people in Murdock Way, Beechdale, complained about being kept awake at night.

Highways Agency bosses will also plant some trees as a screen to keep out the noise of the traffic.

From today, the Highways Agency was due to begin planting 550 trees and shrubs on the embankment of the M6 between Junction 10 at Walsall and 10a, where it meets the M54, as part of the £150m Birmingham Box scheme.

The trees will replace those which were removed at the start of the scheme in March 2009 and will include a number of heavy standard and evergreen trees and shrubs to offer better screening.

Project head David Grant said: “Throughout these works, we will keep any disruption to a minimum and ensure residents are informed at all times.”

On February 19, staff will do two weekends worth of work at the same time.

Tim Harbot, regional director of the Highways Agency, said: “We had a proposal to erect two gantries over two weeks. We will do it next week in one night by bringing in more people.

“We will do the ones in the middle first rather than the ones at either end so that the ones near to where people live can be done in one go.”

Alan Sanders, aged 48, and chairman of the Murdock Way Residents Association, said: “I think it is a good idea to do two lots of work on one night.

“It is still going to disrupt our lives during the weekend. We want to be able to sleep, not to listen to all that.”

The work is due for completion in spring 2011. Once complete, it will enable the hard shoulder to be opened to traffic during busy times.