A couple who played dance music so loud it was a nuisance to their next-door neighbour have been fined by magistrates.

Richard Whittaker, 27, and Stacey Fairhurst, 24, had their hi-fi system turned up so loud the neighbour’s interior wall vibrated, Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court was told yesterday.

Harjit Ryatt, prosecuting for Bradford Council, said the couple, who lived in a semi-detached house in Chellow Grange Road, Bradford, said the neighbour had lived there for many years without experiencing any problems, but she began suffering noise problems within weeks of the pair moving in. She asked them to turn down the music but that did not resolve matters and then she complained to the Council.

An abatement notice was served on the defendants but the Council received another complaint and an environmental health officer attended again.

Whittaker and Fairhurst pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an abatement notice. Whittaker told the court they had stopped playing music.

They were each fined £125, with £100 costs and a £20 victims’ surcharge.