Man describes his battle to deal with noisy 'boy racer' keeping him awake in Milton Keynes

A 'boy racer' with a modified car is causing misery by keeping dozens of residents awake on a Milton Keynes estate.

The man has lowered his car to the point where the chassis regularly scrapes on the ground, say neighbours. And it is so loud that it sounds like the exhaust is missing.

"This car is a complete nuisance to everybody within a one mile radius of his location... For weeks now this person has been waking up the whole area as he goes in and out at all hours," said one fed up resident.

"Despite this there is nobody willing to deal with it. I have tried to speak to the housing association that own the block of flats and they say its a police matter.

"I've had a response from the police to say its something for the environmental team. I've now had a response from the environmental team to say its something for the police.

"So as you can see they will all just keep passing the buck."

The man says he has nothing against modifications on cars but feels they should be sensible and not affect other people.

His outburst comes after yesterday's MK Citizen story about car cruisers racing up and down a city grid road and keeping nearby residents awake in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Last year in MK the council introduced a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in a bid to clamp down on car cruising and related anti social behaviour.

PSPOs are intended to provide the means of preventing individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour in a public space. The power to make the order rests with Local Authorities in consultation with the police and other relevant bodies who may be affected.

It is enforced by Thames Valley Police and supported by MK Council. But sceptics say the order has made little difference and there is still a noise nuisance when groups of 'racers' meet.

Under UK law, a car exhaust cannot cross the noise limit of 74 decibels, so any modifications that breach this limit are illegal.

Meanwhile, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), the council's Environmental Health Service has a legal duty to investigate allegations of statutory noise nuisance.

A spokesman said: "In the UK there is no absolute right to silence within your home or garden. Therefore, although you may be unhappy with the level of noise you are exposed to, if an annoyance does not amount to a statutory nuisance you may have to endure it as part and parcel of living next door to neighbours. There are many examples and types of normal everyday sounds which have potential to interfere and cause annoyance but might have to be endured as they do not constitute a statutory nuisance.

"A statutory noise nuisance is a noise which would be unreasonable and excessive and would have a significant detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of a reasonable average person with no abnormal sensitivities to sound."

You can report a noise nuisance to MK Council here.