A YOUNG girl practising her flute has caused a rift between two families on a Worcester housing estate.

Cancer sufferer John Rowbotham said he and his wife Laura May were at the end of their tethers because of the noise from their next door neighbours.

The 72-year-old Warndon grandfather said the problems began when Debbie Edwards, 40, her partner Mark Hanley, 41, and their three children, Kirsty, 15, Abigail, 13, and Luke, eight, moved in to Keswick Drive two years ago.

"First it was DIY noise. As soon as they moved in, they started knocking walls down. All we asked was that they do it at a reasonable time."

Now the couple claim that Kirsty is disturbing their peace and quiet when she plays her flute with a taped backing track and they have complained to Worcester City Council's environmental health department.

"I get so ill sometimes I have to go to bed, but she plays that flute in the room next to our bedroom and it is so loud that I can't get any rest," he said.

Mr Rowbotham underwent surgery for cancer in his stomach but has recently been told he may only have 18 months to live because the cancer had spread into his liver.

Mrs Rowbotham, aged 74, said they had lived there for 43 years and had never suffered problems with neighbours before.

"We understand you have to have a bit of noise. Children can be noisy, but this is too much. We shouldn't have to endure this. All we are asking for is a little consideration."

Mrs Edwards said her daughter, who wants to be a music teacher, only practised for 20 minutes at a time, a couple of times a day.

"She does have a backing tape to help her stay in rhythm but that's not very loud - I don't find it intrusive and I'm in the same house as her," said the 40-year-old.

"I think he's being very petty. He didn't like us doing the DIY when we moved in and, now that's stopped, he's picked up on something else."

A city council spokesman confirmed that they were investigating a complaint from Mr Rowbotham and would be installing monitoring equipment in his house to determine whether or not the noise was unreasonable.