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They are supposed to soothe and create an air of tranquillity.

But a set of wind chimes hanging from a clothes line in the back garden of a suburban home has achieved quite the opposite effect.

A bitter feud has broken out after the next-door neighbour complained to the council that the “continuous jingling” from the four five-inch tubes of aluminium was making his life a misery and keeping him awake.

Two noise pollution officials visited the house with a decibel meter and warned the chimes’ owner, Gordon Littlechild, that he faces being hauled before a court and fined up to £5 000 if he refuses to remove them.

Married father-of-four Mr Littlechild, who runs a plumbing firm, said he would fight the decision and branded the action a waste of taxpayer’s money.

But his neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said the chiming was making him and his family extremely stressed.

He said: “Gordon put the wind chime up around nine months ago to spite us after we had a falling out over an extension he built on his roof. The chimes sound very innocent at first but when you have the tinkle, tinkle, jingle jangle going on all day and all night it becomes a nightmare.

“It’s like having somebody standing outside your bedroom ringing a bell all night when you are trying to sleep. I would have nothing against someone putting a chime up for a day for a special celebration, but the sheer constant, never ending, repetition is like a slow torture. If there is the slightest breeze we can hear it, and the noise goes up and down randomly depending on the strength of the wind.”

Mr Littlechild, 45, of Walthamstow, East London, insisted the chime had been in his garden for at least a decade without causing any objections until after his neighbour took umbrage at his recent roof extension. He said: “I thought it was a joke at first when I received the complaint.

“When two men from the council turned up and I showed them the wind chimes I could tell they were trying to stop themselves giggling over how ridiculous it all was.

“It’s absolutely crazy that I could end up in court over something so trivial, but I’ll fight it all the way.” Mr Littlechild has now received three letters about the wind chimes from the council, the last of which warned him that it caused ‘unreasonable levels of noise’.

He said the council had also told him they may fit a listening device to monitor the sound levels.

He has sent a letter to local MP Stella Creasy, telling her he feels victimised and calling for her to ‘step in and sort out the silliness’.

He said: “How can the council think that spending the taxpayers’ money on this is okay?

“I know it would make sense to take them down for the sake of neighbourly peace, but I do think there is a principle at stake here.”

A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said: “The chimes do breach appropriate noise levels.”

He said that although Mr Littlechild had been sent a “number of warning letters” he had not yet been sent an abatement notice - which would order him to pull the chimes down or face legal action. - Daily Mail