IT’S hell out there. The British garden, once a welcome refuge from the hurly-burly of life, has become a new battleground.

The Noise Abatement Society has reported a 28% increase in complaints of garden noise compared with last summer, while local authorities across the country report a rise in complaints about noisy neighbours of between 10% and 100%.

The heatwave has accelerated a vogue for suburban dwellers to treat gardens as “outdoor rooms” rather than areas for play or growing plants.

Outdoor kitchens, specially adapted sound systems and bright lighting have become common, and the growth of mobile phone and wireless internet technology has enabled the self-employed to run businesses from their gardens.

The result is that many residents spend up to 16 hours a day in their gardens at weekends, and noisy outdoor habits, more usually associated with Australians and South Africans, are clashing with the more sedate traditions of the English garden.

This has led to neighbourly friction over irritations such as the drone of a hot tub’s motor, the splash of water or the smell of kebabs cooking on a barbecue.

An estimated 10m homes in Britain have barbecues and the average family cooks outside nine times in a summer. Some are still eating and drinking on the patio at 2am.

Antisocial behaviour orders (Asbos) and noise abatement orders (NBOs) are being distributed by the authorities to try to combat the problem.

Common complaints, apart from annoyance about barking dogs and noisy children, include bird scarers, skateboard ramps, aviaries, trampolines and wind chimes.

Householders admit relations with their neighbours are often poor. A survey by NoiseConcern shows that a third of people admit they are noisy neighbours. Direct Line Home Insurance has found that 24% of respondents admit to having confronted their neighbour over a garden-related problem.

In Fife a community mediation service has opened a special file on “trampoline rage” after complaints that children were bouncing high enough to see over fences and through windows.

NoiseConcern was contacted about a woman in Harlow, Essex, who regularly empties a rigid pool that holds 2,000 litres, flooding her neighbours’ gardens and soaking their dogs. A resident in Manchester complained about “a weird woman that lives across the road that cuts her grass at 5.30 in the morning”.

The Noise Abatement Society has branded £150 music system speakers hidden in plastic rocks as “obscene”.

James Blunt’s song You’re Beautiful squeaking over the garden fence arouses particular loathing and last week was voted fourth in a poll on the most irritating things affecting everyday life in Britain.

Hanging baskets that conceal amplifiers under the busy lizzies are among the products designed to help us enjoy living outside.

Others include sunken hot tubs with wooden decks costing £6,000; 6ft long outdoor grills that resemble mobile kitchens and cost £3,000; and outdoor showers at £1,000.

But even a bag of bird seed can be troublesome. Last week Graham Branfield, 63, from Bristol — where the council recently reported a doubling in the usual number of noise complaints — was served with an Asbo for feeding pigeons in his back garden.

His neighbours complained at the sound of constant cooing and said the chore of cleaning up bird droppings was a nuisance. Branfield faces up to five years in prison if he breaches the order. “My understanding of Asbos is that they were intended for crowds of teenagers who kick old grannies,” said Branfield.

Tina Burley, 43, a legal secretary, has found herself in hot water with her neighbours after winning a £4,500 bubbling outdoor spa in a radio competition.

The tub took pride of place in her garden next to her conservatory in Colchester, Essex, and she enjoys a relaxing soak when she returns from work, with her 10-year-old daughter Christie. But neighbours have complained about the noise of the motor, which kicks in automatically when the water dips below a certain temperature.

Cathy Strongman, the eco editor of Insideout, a design magazine, said: “In the old days sounds such as church bells helped create a sense of belonging.. Today it is the opposite. Noise is encouraging the breakdown of communities.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• An officer and a gentle woman
• Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus
• Foods that can help to prevent swine flu