“IT’S the most expensive BBQ I’ve ever had."

A furious couple have spoken out after being made to cough up almost £10,000 because they held two bank holiday parties last year – despite already being told to keep the noise down by council bosses.

Mark and Stephanie Whight, of Fairlawn Close in Rownhams, were prosecuted by Test Valley Borough Council after breaching a noise abatement notice given in March 2016.

Despite the notice, the couple held two parties on the May bank holiday weekend.

An abatement for noise can be for loud music, barking dogs, smoke from bonfires and excessive bright lights, with the couple previously warned for their loud music.

The pair, both, 47, have now been made to pay a total of £9,114 covering fines, victim surcharges, and costs awarded to the council after denying the charges.

The authority said the "last thing it wanted to do" was to take people to court, but the Whights feels they have been harshly treated.

Mark told the Echo: "It’s the most expensive BBQ I’ve ever had. It seems like the council are parading this, absolutely.

“Who doesn’t have a BBQ on a May bank holiday when the weather is nice? Anyway, some people obviously complained and the council came for us.

"We didn’t have a party for the first May bank holiday when they said we did, but the neighbours colluded against us and we had to pay up.

"It’s £14,000 with my legal fees. Drug dealers get less.

"I want to speak to Caroline Nokes MP about it all, because there must be others who have had to pay a ridiculous amount?

“I may as well become a drug dealer, they get far less.”

TVBC portfolio holder for housing and environmental health, councillor Phil Bundy, said: "This is a last resort and not a decision we take lightly. The last thing the council wants to do is take people to court.

"We will always give people the opportunity to resolve the problem themselves in the first instance but if the issues persist then we will take action.

"We certainly don't want to stop people having fun but when they are consistently impacting their neighbours – and in this case the parties were so loud this was not just their immediate neighbours – then something has to be done.

"I am pleased that we have been successful in this prosecution and I am grateful to the council officers for all their hard work in this case.

"I firmly believe that this is the right outcome but would appeal to the public to please heed the council's advice and avoid leaving us with no other option but to go to court."

The pair were fined a total of £1,900 each, £120 victim surcharge each, and a share of the £5,074 costs given to Test Valley Borough Council.