A Blackwater man was surprised when his housing association told him that listening to loud music on his Alexa was a breach of contract.

Martin Van-Evelingen, originally from Falmouth, lives in Wheal Concord Way and suffers from mental health issues. He says that listening to two hours of music a day on the Amazon device helps him to relax.

But neighbours feel differently.

He received a letter from Ocean Housing saying that a complaint had been made about the "excessive" volume at which he apparently listened to music.

Martin admits that he listens to music at lunch times for around two hours, but says he rarely turns up the volume past halfway.

He added: "When the letter came through I was a bit taken aback. Noone's tried to knock on the door. There's someone on the estate who's got it in for me but I don't know who."

The Ocean Housing officer said to Martin in the letter: "The complainant has made clear that the times of when you are playing the music is not an issue but the volume is rather excessive and is causing some disruption and a nuisance.

"At the moment this is being dealt with as anti-social behaviour which is a breach of tenancy.

"Noise that is causing a nuisance to your neighbours is not acceptable."

Speaking to the Packet, a spokesperson from Ocean Housing said: "We wrote to Mr Van-Evelingen following a complaint from another tenant about loud music.

"The welfare of all our tenants is our top priority, and we have to be fair to both Mr Van-Evelingen and the other residents.

"We have since spoken with Mr Van-Evelingen and made some suggestions about ways to keep noise within acceptable levels and we hope the matter is now resolved."