Chatty pensioners banned from park benches for being too noisy

It's a simple pleasure that brings a little extra joy to these pensioners' lives. Once a day the seven friends meet up for a cup of tea and a chat on the benches outside the sheltered accommodation where they live. But their get-togethers could soon be banned - because of claims they are an anti-social nuisance.

The housing association which owns their homes says it has received several complaints over the past two years about noise from the group, the oldest of whom is aged 96. It is warning them that the four benches they sit on could be removed unless the friends keep it down.

Yesterday one of the pensioners - who is recovering from a stroke and has had 45 operations over the years - said she was horrified at being branded a troublemaker.



Ann Reddy, 69, who also has rheumatoid arthritis, said the accusations of anti-social behaviour against her and her friends were incomprehensible. 'How could I possibly be capable of anti-social behaviour?' she said.

'When I told my doctor that we might be having our benches taken away, he asked me if I had been drinking. We don't drink and sit on walls throwing cans of lager around the place. We don't sing in the middle of the night. It's unbelievable.'

The pensioners - most of whom live alone - meet on the benches so they can escape the isolation of their flats. They are unable to walk to the benches in their nearest park because some are too frail. But Broomleigh Housing Association, which owns the flats in Mottingham, South London, is refusing to back down.