Two noisy neighbours have been fined by magistrates after being taken to court for ignoring abatement orders.

Simon Johnson, of Portman Road, Ipswich, was ordered to pay more than £2,100 after being found guilty in his absence to three charges of contravening a noise abatement notice.

Johnson had been due to appear before South East Suffolk Magistrates Court to face the Ipswich Borough Council prosecution.

The offences occurred on or around July 29, September 16, and September 19.

In April Johnson was served with an abatement notice after playing his music too loudly.

However, three months later there were more complaints of a thumping bass beat from his flat at around 10pm.

In September there were two further complaints of loud music coming from the same property.

As a consequence of his conviction magistrates fined Johnson £500 for the first breach of the abatement notice, £600 for the second and £700 for the third.

In addition he was ordered to pay £266 towards the prosecution costs and £70 to the victims’ fund.

In a separate case Ana Guerreiro, of Bulwer Road, Ipswich, denied contravening a noise abatement notice on four occasions between April 2 and May 24 by the borough council.

Guerreiro pleaded not guilty as she did not accept her actions were illegal

She told the court she had received complaints about her dogs and therefore had left her laptop on playing the TV while she went to get a takeaway in order to avoid them barking and disturbing her neighbour.

Guerreiro claimed the noise issues were as a result of inadequate flooring in the properties and not due to her actions.

However she accepted she was playing noise through her laptop at louder levels on the dates of the alleged offences. She also conceded she was aware of the notice and follow-up letters concerning a breach.

Magistrates found Guerreiro guilty after considering the level of noise unreasonable, and it constituted a nuisance. Therefore she had failed to comply with requirements of notice she was given.

Guerreiro was fined a total of £370 and must pay a further £230 in costs and a victim surcharge.

After the convictions a borough council spokesman said: “Noise nuisance should not and will not be tolerated and we will take action where it is possible to do so. If you are suffering from loud music or other disturbances you should report it to our staff.

“We have recently introduced more resources, with an officer on call at night, to help people who are having problems.”