2:50pm Friday 27th January 2012
By Sarah May Hayes
A MAN has been threatened with court action after refusing to take down wind chimes in his garden.
Gordon Littlechild, 45, received a letter from Waltham Forest Council before Christmas saying neighbours had complained of the noise nuisance coming from his back garden in Gloucester Road, Walthamstow.
The letter said the neighbours were being deprived of sleep due to the chimes’ “continuous jingling”.
It went on to state that it was “good practice to be neighbourly” and said if he did not take down the chimes he could be prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act.
However, a defiant Mr Littlechild has so far refused to budge, and after two further letters - and a visit from council workers who were sent to listen to the chimes – he now faces a possible court hearing and a potential £5,000 fine.
He told the Guardian: “I seriously thought it was a joke at first. How can the council think that spending the taxpayers’ money on this is OK?
“When two men from the council did turn up and I showed them the wind chimes, I could tell they were trying to suppress a giggle over how ridiculous it all is.
“I feel like I’m being bullied by the council over the most timid of things.”
A spokesman for the council said: "There have been council officers out to measure the noise from the house next door and the wind chimes do breach appropriate noise levels.
"We are not yet at the stage where Mr Littlechild will have to go to court as we have not yet sent him an abatement notice, only warning letters.
"If we decide to send an abatement notice and Mr Littlechild ignores it that is when we would decide whether to take the matter to court or not."
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