A couple have been fined £3,000 for carrying out noisy building works at their home on a Bank Holiday.

Suresh Patel, 53, and his wife Mrudula, 47, of Aylmer Road, Highgate, ignored warnings from Haringey Council and were caught with six contractors working on the site on Good Friday.

A neighbour complained to the council that they had heard drilling and hammering at 8am on the morning of April 22.

Mr Patel argued that they were carrying out emergency work to stop a leak, but he and his wife were both found guilty of breaching the council’s Control of Pollution Act noise notice at Highgate Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 10.

They were fined £1,500 each and both ordered to pay another £15 in victim surcharge and £406 in legal costs each – amounting to a total bill of £3,842.

Cllr Nilgun Canver, cabinet member for the environment, said: “Breaching a noise notice is a serious matter as they are only issued where noise has been a real concern. When we discover a breach we will take action through the courts.”