Noisy neighbours made lockdown even more miserable for hundreds of city folk, new statistics have revealed.
With talk that there could be further Covid restrictions after Christmas, a Freedom Of Information request has revealed how noise complaints surged and tempers flared in previous lockdowns.
In the period from April 2019 to March 2020, the month when prime minister Boris Johnson ordered the first lockdown, Norwich City Council had 1,871 complaints about anti-social behaviour.
Of those, 294 were noise complaints and 505 recordings of noisy neighbours were submitted on the city council's noise app.
The city council provides that mobile phone app to allow people to record and report noise.
However, in the months following that first lockdown, up until April this year, the complaints surged.
That period saw three separate national lockdowns, and with more people stuck at home nerves were frayed by people blasting out music.
Of the 1,814 anti-social behaviour complaints in that period, 397 of them were noise complaints and City Hall's noise app was used to record the stressful sounds 804 times.
Simon Crawford, from the Russell Street Community Area Residents Association, said problems with noise in the area where he lived were often connected with people's drug addictions and had not noticeably worsened during the pandemic.
But he praised the city council for their efforts to deal with problems when they do arise.
The council's response to our FOI request did not reveal how many noise abatement orders or action had been taken.
However, the city council can issue those orders, along with community protection warnings and community protection notices - which can lead to fines or court if the anti-social behaviour does not stop.
With the increase in home working and people cautious around coronavirus, plenty of us are still spending more time at home.
James Wright, Lib Dem city councillor for Eaton, said, where issues are minor, it was important to sometimes "live and let live" when it came to those closest.
"The key thing is if we think back to March 2020, communities came together amazingly,” he said. “It can be hard but we can all have some patience and think about options we have to get away from it for a while.”
A spokesperson for Norwich City Council said: "With people spending more time at home over the past 18 months, there has been an increase in noise complaints, but in general we find that people respond well once they are made aware of any issues they may be causing.
"We always encourage neighbours to try to talk to each other about any issues with noise before reporting them formally.
"If this is not possible or not working, we will get involved to help mediate and, if necessary, take further action."
How to handle noisy neighbours
Whether it's blaring music, alarms or shouting, living next door to rowdy neighbours can make it feel like there's no end in sight.
If you are struggling, Citizens Advice suggests making a note whenever the problem happens, including as much detail as possible, such as what happened, the length of time and how it affected you.
If you feel safe to do so you can also speak to your neighbour about the problems you have been having, they say.
You can also use a mediator - someone who doesn't know either of you and is trained to help people resolve disputes - which your local council can recommend.
If the issues go unresolved, you can report your concerns to the city council.
In 2017, the council began using a mobile phone app - The Noise App - which allows people to record and report noise.
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