A mum has been left scratching her head after her new neighbour has made repeated threats to report her to the council - for hanging her washing up to dry in her own garden.
Getting along with your neighbours makes life significantly easier and less stressful but for some people, those they live near can cause all sorts of issues and drama. For one woman, her new neighbour has taken to complaining about people whistling, birds singing, those who leave their windows open when cooking, and more.
Taking to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable [AIBI] thread, the mum detailed her experiences with the woman. She also sought advice on how best to deal with her potentially complaining to the council.
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In a post titled "My washing line annoying neighbour", she penned: "We have a new neighbour who has complained to me about my laundry hanging on the line ruining her view." She explained it was "just run of the mill laundry" and "not offensive", continuing: "At first I ignored her, but she later told me she had photographed it and would complain to council. I'm not the only neighbour she has complained to, another about his whistling, which is piercing her ears, having sensitive hearing and she asked another neighbour to keep his windows and doors closed whilst cooking as it made her nauseous.
"It's not just humans she intolerant of, if a bird is singing, she will start growling to scare it away. Before she moved here, we all just dodged along fine. Is there any law against hanging washing? I'm not tumble drying our family's wash when not necessary."
The mum's post was met with hundreds of responses from fellow Mumsnet users, keen to share their thoughts. One simply said: "She’s clearly bat****".
Another said: "Assuming you’re not spelling ‘f*** off neighbour’ with your pants or something, then it’s perfectly acceptable to hang out your laundry on your washing line. She won’t be taken seriously at all. By anyone."
A third commented: "No, there's no law against hanging washing and the council won't have any interest in following up a complaint about it. She sounds like a pain in the a***. Ignore. She won't get anywhere with complaining about smells or whistling either".
Another advised: "If the line is in your garden and there are no covenants put in place by developers or conditions of occupancy imposed by whoever owns the property, if it's not you, then there is nothing she can do. I assume you are in the UK. If she's complaining about other people it's likely she's going to be "that neighbour". Best ignored, smile sweetly and carry on."
One Mumsnet user said: "No, she is bonkers. She sounds tortured. It will be interesting to hear what the council (or whoever she complains to) will have to say. Try not to worry, bc [because] I'm sure they won't take her seriously."
Another said: "The council will laugh. Her email will be the subject of much humour, for weeks. Laugh at her. Ask her to send you whatever the council responds with. But mostly just laugh a big cheery "righto!" laugh."
In a follow up comment, the mum explained she owns her property so there's no reason why she wouldn't be able to hang her washing out on the line in her own garden. Some of her other neighbours are also having trouble with the new arrival to the area. She added: "An update, as was chatting to my lovely whistling neighbour and his wife on my way home today. He told me he was looking for a Roger Whittaker (famous whistler) cd on eBay.
"He also informed me that neighbours living at back of us (perfectly respectable family) received a letter poked through their letter box unsigned. Author asked if they could oil their back door as it sounds like a cat screaming and interrupting her sleep. If she doesn't get enough rest it could stop her ovulating. The letter was decorated with drawings of cat's faces, one with a speech bubble saying hello. You can imagine our reactions."
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