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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
Katie Williams

Fuming mum slammed for trying to dictate builders' music choice

A woman has come under fire after she complained about the neighbour's builders playing their radio too loud.

While you can choose your home, you can't choose your neighbours - or the works that go on around the street.

But one woman has taken to parenting forum Mumsnet to ask if she was being unreasonable to want the builders to turn down the volume or change the station.

While she gets on with the neighbours, she slammed the builders' choice of music, calling it 'intrusive'.

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Remaining anonymous, she wrote: "Even though it’s a bank holiday, my neighbours are having building works done. They are lovely neighbours and generally very quiet. They let me know there would be work being done and it might be noisy. No problem.

"But… the major noise is the builders’ radio. It’s churning out some RnB-lite s****. I find it intrusive. They had a shed built about a year ago, and those people played Radio 6 or Magic Radio or something. I was fine with that.

"I am not objecting to the noise, I’m tolerant like that, but just the choice of station. Or they could turn it down? It’s booming out. It is bank holiday, it’s sunny, I’d like to sit in my garden. But I really can’t listen to this. Happy to listen to something else."

She quickly came under fire, with many telling her that she can't 'dictate' what people listen to.

One replied: "You can ask them to turn it down to a reasonable level but you can't dictate their listening choice."

Another said: "YABU [You are being unreasonable] - maybe another neighbour hated Radio 6 and Magic Radio and is enjoying the R&B. Either the radio is ok or it isn't, it doesn't matter what's playing unless it's something actually offensive."

"I get that it’s irritating but there is literally no way of asking this without coming across like an absolute a***. I’d just suck it up," a third added.

The woman later added: "OK, I am probably being unreasonable. I live in the middle of nowhere, so any noise is surprising."

But some rallied round her, saying the worst that can happen is that they say 'no'.

"Lean over the fence and Ask them for 90's dance or rock ballads country or whatever it is you fancy. They can only say no! I wouldn’t have a problem with asking", one interjected.

Another added: "Given it’s a bank holiday and actually decent weather I would think it’s reasonable to ask them to turn down the volume. It would be unreasonable to ask them to change station though."

And one suggested a negotiation tactic: "Try bribing them with cold drinks and chocolate biscuits in exchange for an hour of the music you like. Have cocktail umbrellas, maraschinos and Snickers to hand for negotiating."

Do you think you should have a say on what music is played in public? Let us know in the comments.

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