'I asked neighbour to take their Christmas lights down they are so overbearing'

23 December 2023 , 11:22

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She had to tell her neighbour to keep the decorations away from her house (Stock Photo) (Image: Getty Images)

As many homeowners will proudly display their Christmas lights outside their homes - one fed-up neighbour had enough of their neighbour's bright display, she asked them to take them down.

It seems as if not everyone is a fan of a huge light display, and it can be annoying if neighbours around you have bright flashing lights on all evening. One woman had enough of her neighbour's display that had spilled over onto her garden too.

She wasn't sure if she was being a spoilsport when ruining her neighbours' fun, but she had to intervene as it all got "overbearing".

She took her gripe to Mumsnet and explained: "I came home and saw that my neighbours had decorated their house ready for Christmas." She then realises there has been some Christmas decoration 'leakage' onto her property, and isn't happy with her neighbours.

"They had put one of their Christmas decorations on my garden without checking with me first," she said. "They seemed annoyed when I (very politely) asked them to put it on their own driveway instead." She wondered if she gave the Christmas Grinch a run for his money because she wanted the Christmas decorations removed and denied her neighbours some seasonal joy.

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"Was I being unreasonable?," she asked. "It was very close to the boundary, so I thought about letting it go, but it's a long time until Christmas and it was a decoration on a stake, pushed into in my flower bed, which borders their driveway!" Comments to her post were a mixed bag. Some sympathised, others reasoned, while a few called her a Grinch. One person said: "Not unreasonable at all. If they want to decorate early, that’s fine, but it is not acceptable for them to decorate someone else's garden."

A fellow Grinch sympathised: "I'm also a bit Grinchy about garden Christmas decorations. A few lights on the house and a wreath, even a Christmas tree in the garden looks lovely, but decorations on stakes are a no from me." Others questioned her further, asking: "Was it causing damage? I understand if it was tearing through your roses, but if not, then I don't see the harm."

Finally, some good old common sense and grounding advice: "I really couldn't get worked up over something so minor. It borders their driveway, you could have just moved it over a touch if it was bothering you so much, I wouldn't want to risk falling out with my neighbours over something so trivial."

Niamh Kirk