A man woken by a noisy milk float at 4am last week has slammed the company for using diesel milk floats and delivering so early.

Hearing the roar of a diesel engine, the glare of headlights and the slam of doors outside his Ewell Court home on Thursday morning he assumed it must be an ambulance attending an emergency.

But the man, 59, who asked not to be named, said he was amazed to look out of the bedroom window and find the vehicle was in fact a milk float.

He said: "Is this the end of the old electric and silent milk float? It has no doors to slam and no diesel engine to wake me!"

The man said the driver slammed the door while getting in and out of the float to drop off milk before roaring off.

He said: "I understand that in rural areas this is the only way to deliver goods, but here in suburbia, is it really necessary?

"In these days of high car ownership, most homes having freezers and milk coming in all sizes from a pint to a gallon. Is it really required to deliver at 4am?"

He called on milk&more, which is part of the Dairy Crest group, to send out its diesel vans at a more reasonable hour as it seeks to compete with home grocery delivery services.

He said he could always wear ear plugs, but then he would sleep through car windows being smashed by thieves, who have targeted his road three times over the past two years.

He said during the last theft, he heard noises outside and was able to ring police, adding: "Funnily enough they also call at about 4 am, but they are a bit quieter!"

A milk&more spokesman said the milkman concerned would be spoken to but said: "I have to say it is a very unusual case. I have never heard of it being reported to us before.

"Milkmen are very conscious about waking people up and I would assume it is a one-off."

She said she did not know what proportion of milk floats were diesel or when these were brought in, but said electric models were not being phased out.

She said milk float batteries run out over long distances, adding: "It's very much based on the distance they have to travel to where milk is delivered."

Of the 4am round, she said: "That sort of time has been very common for milkmen for years. They have always had early starts and rounds."

Do you think milk floats are too noisy? Leave a comment below or email alice.foster@london.newsquest.co.uk.