14 September 2023 , 14:06
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We're not all fortunate enough to have good relationships with our neighbours. Most of the time you can co-exist peacefully even if you don't like what they are doing but sometimes things go one step too far. One person has had to make a difficult decision about confronting their neighbour after their actions made them worry about their children. The person said their neighbour was burning something nasty in her house and they wanted to take action.
In a post on Mumsnet, the poster explained that they thought their neighbour might be burning plastic in her house. They said: "You see the smoke from the chimney, you can even smell it in your house with the windows ajar, it's noxious and acrid."
The person said they had spoken to the woman about the smell and asked what she was burning. They wrote that she "lied to [their] face and said it was just coal", but they suspected it was something else. "You mentioned your young children playing in the street having to breathe it in," they said. "This neighbour persists to burn god knows what every month or so."
The Mumsnet member said the lying was really annoying – and they reported the neighbour to environmental health. However, their wife was "furious" because she thinks the neighbour is simply a "nice old lady". They went to Mumsnet to ask whether they were being unreasonable for making the complaint. The other commenters agreed that they were not.
One said: "You need to report on the days it's being burnt really, so someone can come out and see at the time, but you are absolutely right to report. It doesn't matter if she's 'a nice old lady' she could be poisoning half the street." Another agreed and wrote: "She absolutely should not be burning plastic You were right to report this to environmental health. She needs educating."
'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'