PEOPLE living near Fawley refinery are being warned to expect noise and smoke over the weekend.

ExxonMobil Fawley has issued an operational update to families in the area ahead of work being carried out.

The huge petro-chemical complex is bordered by a large number of homes and businesses.

READ MORE: Fawley refinery issues apology after flares light up night sky

Posting on social media, ExxonMobil says: "We wanted to let you know that we are working towards restarting one of our units over the weekend.

"To enable this work we will need to use our flares, which may appear smoky at times.

"We also appreciate there may be some associated noise but we are working hard to minimise duration and any disruption. Thank you for your understanding."

Fawley's four flares act as the site's safety valve.

An interruption to normal operations often means the system is unable to send all the materials to the process units. 

Instead, they are re-routed to the flare system, which burns off any gas it receives.