'My next door neighbours won't stop fighting and I'm considering calling the police.'

Yesterday my neighbours had a loud, long, rip-roaring fight that lasted from sun up to sun down and it was really difficult to listen to.

Sure, they’ve fought before. In fact, in the four months they’ve lived next door, they’ve had approximately three verbal stoushes per week, complete with swearing and door slamming. They also yell “shut up” if our dog barks at night.

Unfortunately they live on the side of our house where the kid’s bedrooms are and while my little ones tend to sleep through the ruckus, my oldest doesn’t and he finds it really upsetting to listen to.

Should having children be taught in high schools? Post continues… 

We aren’t the kind of family who yells and screams and fights like that, so my children aren’t used hearing it. Maybe we should yell and scream and fight, just so they don’t find it so frightening when the neighbours do it.

I don’t understand why they are still together.

It’s not like they are always fighting about something serious. One argument I overheard seemed to be about toast. Their kitchen looks into my backyard and I was hanging out washing so heard every word.

They seem like a nice enough couple with a few kids, but by gosh, can they get into the argy-bargy.

Maybe a well-timed note under the door to let them know we can hear every word and if they don’t learn to pipe down and argue like grown ups, then we’ll call the police?

I really don't want to be one of those neighbours who calls the cops on people in their street. I don't mind a two hour party or a two hour argument or a dog that barks a couple of times a night, but three fights a week and one that went on all day?

Once again, how is this couple still together?

I've call the police on neighbours before - once when I had a new baby and they had like three parties in a row, and once when it sounded like someone was being beaten but it turned out it was the bathroom bashing of a spider!

Years ago I also called the police on a neighbour who lived in the upstairs apartment. He'd broken up with his girlfriend and at 2am each morning without fail, for about a month, he'd play the James Blunt song "Goodbye My Lover" at full volume.

It was so loud, our downstairs apartment would shake. We went upstairs to tell him to turn it off but he was drunk and crying, so we left him to it that night and called the police the next.

In the movie Bad Neighbours things get awkward when a married couple tries to shut down a loud party. Post continues...

You can make a complaint against a noisy neighbour under the banner of "noise pollution" which is governed by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and covers such incidents as:

Barking dogs;

Intruder alarms;

Noises from vehicles;

Neighbourhood from machinery.

For yelling and carrying on such as what I heard, or loud parties, a call to your local police station might be the best bet.

Have you ever had to call the police on your neighbours?