Annoying neighbours? Join the 5m others

MORE than five million people in the UK are currently annoyed by their neighbours.

New research has shown that ten million people have been embroiled in a dispute with their neighbours during the past year - with noise, coming from loud music and voices, including arguments, topping the lists of irritants.

A survey by Which Legal Service found that noise accounts for about three in five problems of annoying neighbours, with a quarter citing door slamming and noisy pets.

A fifth of respondents said their neighbours' regular parties kept them awake at night - while 5 per cent said they had to endure listening to their neighbours having sex.

The survey found that a quarter of people annoyed by their neighbours' behaviour did nothing to address the issue.

"The findings of the Which? report are largely in line with the sort of evidence we see at Scottish CABs," said Lucy McTernan, chief executive of Citizens Advice Scotland.

"It is a serious issue, and we would certainly encourage people who are experiencing noise pollution to try to address it. There's no reason why anyone should have to suffer excessive noise.

"But from the evidence we see, the majority of noise complaints are resolved informally.

"Often the person making the noise is genuinely not aware they have been causing a problem and are happy to correct it after one conversation - as long as the approach is calm and reasonable."

According to the survey responses, noisy neighbours make people irritable, angry or stressed. One in five sufferers said the problems had affected their work or health.

If they can't be resolved amicably, noise complaints are usually dealt with by local authorities, which in some areas can send out noise wardens to ensure that noisy residents do not constantly disturb those living near them.

A report carried out by the Scottish Government in 2009 found that the proportion of people who say they regularly have to suffer problems from noisy neighbours or regular loud parties in their neighbourhood has risen in recent years - to as many as 9.6 per cent of the population. In the same survey, 5.2 per cent of Scottish adults said they found disputes with neighbours to be common.

But, according to Which?, many of the 75 per cent of people who have taken action to find a solution to the complaint have chosen other methods. About 10 per cent chose to take revenge by becoming nuisance neighbours themselves. A third spoke calmly to their neighbours about the issue, while one in five contacted their local council.An unfortunate 17 per cent of people were forced to call the police.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "That so many people are losing sleep, getting stressed and struggling at work because of noise from next-door shows the damage this does.

"But people needn't suffer in silence - if trying to solve the problem with your neighbour doesn't work or simply isn't possible, then get in touch with your local authority who can take action for you."