Dorchester’s new medical centre is proving a bitter pill to swallow for one couple.

Electric blue light from the building is casting a ghostly shadow over the home of Noel and Penelope Harris.

They say they had no idea the building would be illuminated with blue light and claim the effect of the beams shining into their Victorian home is like having a spaceship parked outside.

Mr Harris said: “When we moved here from London in August 2007 we knew that number five and seven Weymouth Avenue would be demolished to make space for a new health centre.

“I visited the planning office at West Dorset District Council to look at the proposed development and can not recall seeing any mention of bright blue illumination at night.”

He added: “We knew it would be a big concrete lump replacing the Victorian semis opposite but we did not know there would be an electric blue light shining in our windows at night.

“It’s obtrusive and a waste of energy.

“It’s like having a spaceship out there – you expect an alien to come out and greet the earthlings.”

He said the lights were originally on all night and kept his wife awake. They were subsequently switched on for a shorter time.

He said: “They shine in through our lounge and bedroom windows – we have to keep the curtains tightly drawn. We get this ghostly blue light coming through.

“These blue lights are the sort of thing you would imagine in London – perhaps on the South Bank to illuminate the National Theatre. They don’t enhance the conservation area in Dorchester.”

The couple have complained to the district council and to the project manager of the Brewery Square site, which is building the medical centre as part of a redevelopment of the former Eldridge Pope brewery.

But Andrew Wadsworth, co-director of the Brewery Square development, said: “Lots of people have come in and told us they love the lights. They say it’s magical and beautiful.

“They were left on all night on one occasion by mistake but they will be on a timer to go on when it gets dark and go off at about 10pm or 11pm.

“I think it’s simply beautiful and brings joy to the heart. It isn’t a planning issue.”

The building is due to open in early May.

A spokesman for the district council said: “The light was not proposed in the original planning application. It’s unlikely that type of light would need planning approval but we are looking into it.”