In what started as a way to keep late night revelers away from a suburban Sydney Park, is now getting on the nerves of nearby residents.

The local council in Rockdale, a southern suburb in Sydney, started a six-month trial of high-volume hits by Manilow and Doris Day to chase away car enthusiasts who were gathering on weekend nights at Cook Park Reserve.

The move is reminiscent of U.S. efforts to drive former Panama strongman Manuel Noriega from the Vatican Embassy where he took refuge in 1989.

Rockdale Deputy Mayor Bill Saravinovski told The Daily Telegraph newspaper, four weeks after the start of the effort, "Barry's our secret weapon. It seems to be working."

However, the same thoughts can not be said by some of the nearby residents, who are complaining that the barrage of 'Copacabana,' 'Could It Be Magic' and 'Que Sera Sera,' blasting from 9 p.m. to midnight every Friday, Saturday and Sunday is driving them crazy.

Resident Moya Dunn said, "I don't know how I will cope. I just can't sleep when it's on, and to think there's going to be another six months of this."

Officials have given in a little bit by turning down the volume.

Saravinovski said, "The initial reaction was that they found it irritating. I'm not disputing what the residents are saying. I can't swallow some of the tracks like `Mandy.'

n 1989, U.S. soldiers blasted hard rock music and news bulletins about Panama at the Vatican Embassy in Panama City in attempt to drive Gen. Noriega from refuge there. The Vatican complained, and U.S. troops stopped the noise. Noriega later surrendered.