Couple served with noise abatement order over rowdy sex sessions » Housing » 24dash.com

A couple whose love-making woke the neighbours have been hit with a noise abatement order.

Steve and Caroline Cartwright have been warned to quieten down after people complained about their four-hour romps.

The couple have been arrested twice for causing a nuisance to neighbours and to people passing by the open bedroom window of their terraced home in Concord, Tyne and Wear.

But jobless Mrs Cartwright, 47, said she could not help her screams of passion - and reckoned the marathon sex sessions kept her slim.

Mrs Cartwright, who has been married to factory worker Steve, 46, for 24 years, told the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle: "The order prevents me from screaming and shouting at such a level that I'm a nuisance.

"We have been told to close the windows and doors when we do it but it is hot at the moment so we have to leave the windows open.

"Apparently I'm so loud people think I'm getting murdered. The police said they'd called round because they feared for my safety."

She said she had dropped from a size 30 dress to a size 18 and lost six stone thanks to her passion for her husband.

Environmental officers from Sunderland City Council have frequently measured the sound level coming from the couple's upstairs bedroom window.

Sunderland City Council and Northumbria Police said in a joint statement: "Neighbours have complained to both Sunderland City Council and Northumbria Police of nuisance behaviour from the occupiers of the property.

"We have investigated the complaints and have attempted to solve the problem both formally and informally.

"Due to ongoing concerns, the council is now considering the most appropriate form of action to prevent further disturbance to local residents."