A restaurateur claims vibrations from a neighbouring building site are sending plates and bottles crashing to the floor and that the noise is driving away diners.

Makiko Sano opened Suzu, a small Japanese eatery in Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith, in 2009 and has worked hard to build up a loyal customer base.

But she fears those years of graft are being undone by work taking place on a new office block next door, where she says demolition began around 10 months ago.

"I understand they have to do a lot of demolition and construction and I've tried to be patient but this is greatly affecting my business," she said. "It's not just the noise and dust, which means we have to keep the windows closed and can't have any tables outside.

"The vibrations have caused plates and wine bottles to fall from the shelves and smash, and employees have had to leave the premises because the constant shaking makes them feel nauseous.

"We've even had customers walk out without paying because they said it felt like eating in the middle of a war zone.

"It's not just my restaurant that's affected. It's making life difficult for people in the flats above, where a number of elderly people live."

Japanese restaurant Suzu and the demolition site next door

Ms Sano said she had complained to the builders, developer Kier and to the noise pollution department at Hammersmith & Fulham Council but with little joy. And she claimed one builder had sworn at her when she asked if anything could be done about the noise.

However, after being approached by getwestlondon, a spokesman for Kier said that it was taking further steps to minimise the disruption for local businesses.

"The hours we are working were agreed with the council prior to works commencing, but we are keen to minimise disruption to local businesses during this demolition phase of the project and have therefore reduced our activity on site during busy trading times," he said.

Kier bought Kings House from Haymarket Media Group in 2013 and is demolishing the existing building and replacing it with a seven-storey office block with nearly twice the floor space.

A council spokesman said: "We have been working with the site owners and the demolition contractors to reduce disruption as much as possible.

"A noise notice was served in December restricting demolition works to the hours of 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm on Mondays to Fridays and 9am to 12pm on Saturdays and at no time on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The lunchtime break was extended until 3pm following further complaints last week.

"Anybody affected can contact the noise and nuisance service on 020 8753 1081 from 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday or 020 8748 8588 outside office hours."