Complaints about noisy neighbours are received at the rate of one every hour by MK Council, a study has shown.

Between 2017 and 2019, 5,802 noise complaints were made by fed-up residents in the city. This equates to almost eight complaints every day of the year.

The most common grievance, prompting 35 per cent of the calls, was about noise from music and parties.

This was closely followed by 'domestic' noise - usually from rows, shouting or loud footsteps - while noise from animals made up almost 17 per cent of all complaints.

The figures make MK among the top five places in the South East for noise problems. The highest area is Southampton, where there were 1,100. complaints over the two years.

Carried out by Churchill Home Insurance, the research showed more than 38,400 noise complaints were made to local authorities across the South East region.

Despite the frequency of complaints, however, just one in every 93 resulted in a noise abatement notice being issued by the councils..

Noisy neighbours have proved even more a problem during lockdown, when families have had no means of escaping,

Nearly half (24 million) of Brits believe neighbours’ antisocial noise has had a negative impact on their mental wellbeing over the last couple of months, say Churchill experts.

Playing loud music is the leading cause of antisocial noise, followed by breaking lockdown by having a party, playing with children, having arguments, and loud animals, particularly barking dogs.