Everybody needs good neighbours. You don't have to be a follower of the most famous Australian soap in recent TV history to know that. Of course, the residents of Ramsay Street are forced to put up with some truly upsetting distractions, often involving serial villain Paul Robinson and a spectacularly bitter revenge plot.
Loud music is unlikely to send viewer ratings through the roof but spare a thought for people in real life who are tormented by incessant noise from next door. The latest example of this has emerged in Folkestone, where a man has had his stereo and CDs confiscated after breaking the terms of a noise abatement order.
Not only has the unnamed man, who terrorised residents of his block of flats, been deprived of the right to listen to music but his questionable tastes have also been exposed in the national media. Council officers say his "tiny collection" consisted almost entirely of "girly love songs", which were played at deafening volume, all night long.
"It must have been a nightmare for the other people living there," commented Liam Flannery, environmental health officer for Shepway District Council. "Unfortunately, the man concerned didn't have an extensive CD collection so it was the same few songs...over and over again."
"˜I'm Every Woman', a 1978 hit for Chaka Khan which was covered by Whitney Houston in 1993, was reportedly a particular favourite. A neighbour, who refused to be named, said: "It was horrible, truly horrible - nobody could get a decent night's sleep because this guy was blaring out love songs all through the night.
"God only knows where he got his musical taste from, but he needs to expand his horizons or he'll drive himself mad," they said after the council ruling, which bars the offender from owning any music. "We've got his stuff now and the warrant's open, so if he buys any more we'll take that too," insisted Flannery.
