A small New Zealand city has been plagued by drivers blasting Céline Dion ballads at 2 a.m. for almost a year

• Residents of a New Zealand city have had sleepless nights for months due to drivers blasting music.
• It's part of the "siren battles" trend, where crews compete by playing loud music from their cars.

The residents of a small city in New Zealand have been enduring sleepless nights for months due to drivers blasting Céline Dion songs from their cars in the early hours of the morning.

According to Agence France Press, drivers in Porirua, a town of about 60,000 people north of Wellington, have been loudly playing the singer's tunes as late as 2 a.m.

They have been cranking up the volume on the Canadian songstress's most famous ballads, including "My Heart Will Go On" and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," according to AFP.

The nocturnal concerts tend to begin as early as 7 p.m., continuing for many hours thereafter, Anita Baker, the mayor of Porirua, told the news agency.

It's part of the "siren battles" trend that has been going strong in New Zealand for several years, which appears to be particularly popular with indigenous people from the Pacific Islands.

These battles involve rival crews competing to blast the most powerful and clear sounds from loudspeakers attached to cars, or even bicycles, to win the title of "siren king."

Baker told AFP that competing vehicles blast the music with their engines running, promptly moving on to avoid the police.

According to The Spinoff, a New Zealand online publication, Dion's music is especially popular because songs need to showcase treble rather than bass.

They "love" Dion because they like "anyone with a high pitch and great tone in their voice," the mayor told AFP.

The blasting of Dion's music began around November last year, according to Baker, who told AFP that it coincided with Samoa making the finals of the men's Rugby League World Cup.

It's primarily happening in the city center but reverberates out into the suburbs, leaving frustrated residents sleep-deprived, Baker told AFP.

"People are just not getting any sleep, because it's all hours," she said.

Baker added: "It's really loud music. They only play a quarter of the song, so it's like having a turntable and it comes screeching out."

Residents have launched a petition calling on the Porirua City Council to stop the blasting of "excessively loud music and siren noises."

At the time of reporting, the petition had almost 300 signatures.

One signatory, Stephen Lewis, wrote: "Sleep is a basic human right. If the Porirua City Council members don't get it, they should be shown the door."

The mayor, who did not respond to Insider's request for comment, told AFP she would meet with the police to find a resolution.

Porirua Council's chief executive, Wendy Walker, told Insider: "We know the siren battles occurring are frustrating and we absolutely sympathize with residents' concerns. We are attempting to find solutions and are working with police around the issue."

Walker said the council plans to work with "siren enthusiasts" to find a less disruptive time and place to blast their music.