Q:I recently moved to a very nice area which is quite residential. But my new neighbours (two brothers) are in many ways worse than where I lived before. They have regular loud drunken parties (with very loud house music playing) that last until the early hours and they have boy racer cars with exhausts the size of dustbins squealing very early in the morning when they go to work (they are bankers and seem to work fairly hard and play even harder). I saw them going into their house one day and mentioned this to them but they were dismissive and rather rude and their parties haven’t stopped and if anything have just got louder. I was planning on grinning and bearing it as their house is on the market and they seem to have regular viewings but according to my other neighbours they haven’t been able to sell it for over six months now. Help, I don’t know what to do!

A:Loving they neighbour is rather difficult when said neighbour’s actions causes you to live in disharmony. You shouldn’t be expected to live in discomfort in your own home. I feel you need to try and have another word with them when they seem more amenable (perhaps not the day after one of their loud parties when they are no doubt hung over). Another option is to get a few neighbours together who have been bothered by the noise and ask them to complain as well. If there are a few of you who are affected enough by the noise to complain then it may make them question their behaviour. If they still don’t stop you could write them a formal letter copied to your local council detailing the issues you have and formally requestion them to stop. Make it clear to them that there will be concequences to their actions if they don’t stop. You may also wish to speak to your local council about noise pollution laws and check if these are applicable. I doubt that these will be applicable to the revving of their cars early in the morning but it is possible and your local council will be able to advise further. As a final straw you could even request that your neighbours are taken to task with an ABC. An ABC is the cousin of the famous ASBO and is an “Acceptable Behaviour Contract”. If you go down the ABC route I would strongly recommend that the ABC contains a statement that the continuation of such disruptive behaviour may lead to an application for an ASBO. Then if such a contract is broken you can use it as evidence to back up your application for an ASBO.

In this current economic climate your banker neighbours may find themselves without a job or find that their positions aren’t as secure as they used to be so the last thing they need is an ABC or ASBO against their names which may give their employers a convenient way of getting rid of them (bringing their employers reputation into disrepute etc…) and you may wish to subtly remind them of this…Good luck!