Noisy neighbour has his loudspeakers and TV confiscated from small one-bedroomed flat

A noisy tenant who blighted the lives of his neighbours with loud music at all hours has had his 34 loudspeakers and television confiscated in a joint police and council raid.

Michael Baker spent months playing music at "unreasonably high" volume in his small, one-bedroom flat in Broad Green, south London, through the day and night, Croydon Council said. After Mr Baker ignored neighbours' pleas as well as visits and letters from the council's noise pollution team, magistrates granted an order for the seizure of all sound-producing equipment causing a nuisance at his flat.



When officers arrived to execute the warrant they were refused entry. They called a locksmith to give them access, and police officers from the Broad Green Safer Neighbourhoods team. Mark Watson, the council's cabinet member for communities, safety and justice, said Mr Baker's "thoughtless and selfish behaviour blighted the lives of his neighbours".

"He showed no regard for their feelings, ignoring both them and the formal approaches of the council's noise pollution officers who, in the end, had no alternative but to obtain a warrant from the courts to bring the problem to an end. He was left with only a portable CD player and a pair of earphones – I hope that will teach him, and others who cause similar noise problems, that they have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a reasonable manner and respect the lives of others."