Couple in trouble for kid repellant

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A couple who got fed up with hearing children screaming in their garden in Ipswich, Suffolk, invested in a child repellant.

The device emits a sound that most adults can't hear, but that causes severe discomfort in children.

Michael Mitchell, 66, and his wife Kathryn, 52, have been threatened with legal action by the local council after their neighbours complained.

They bought the Ultrasonic Teen Deterrent device online for 130 ($300) after becoming fed up with noise from the four children.

The Mitchells switch it on whenever, they claim, the youngsters - who are all aged under 10 - start screaming, forcing them indoors.

The children's mother, 36-year-old Beth Chappel, said of the Mitchells: "They're really nasty people."

One of Chappel's friends added: "Beth's children have been in the tears because the sound gets to them so much. The Mitchells have had it switched on for long periods so you cannot get away from it."

Kathryn Mitchell has argued that the device is necessary to keep the peace. "For the last two years life has been pretty unbearable. That woman and her kids have made our lives a living hell," she said. "Buying the device was a last resort and we have checked that it is 100 per cent legal."

Ipswich Borough Council has warned the Mitchells that they will be issued with a Community Protection Notice if they use the device again. If they breach the notice they face being taken to court and fined up to 2500 each.

Michael Mitchell defended his actions, saying: "I would never do anything to hurt a child deliberately."