A woman has asked for advice online after her neighbour complained about her washing hanging out on the line.
Well, where else is it supposed to go?
A good drying day isn’t something to be wasted, and when electricity prices are as they are, who could be expected to run the tumble dryer when there’s a perfectly good, free-of-charge wind outside to blow the clothes dry.
Also, there’s something nice about clothes that have just come off the line, right? That’s why fabric softeners all have names like ‘spring awakening’ and ‘summer breeze’.
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Anyway, this woman took to online forum Mumsnet to express her shock and dismay after a neighbour complained that the washing hanging outside was ‘ruining her view’.
The ‘new neighbour’ has even threatened to call the council, apparently.
In her post, she wrote: "We have a new neighbour who has complained to me about my laundry hanging on the line ruining her view.
“It's just run-of-the-mill laundry, no crutchless [sic] knickers or bondage gear, so not offensive.”
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She continued: "At first I ignored her, but she later told me she had photographed it and would complain to council.
"I'm not the only neighbour she has complained to, another about his whistling, which is piercing her ears, having sensitive hearing and she asked another neighbour to keep his windows and doors closed whilst cooking as it made her nauseous.
"It's not just humans she is intolerant of, if a bird is singing, she will start growling to scare it away. Before she moved here, we all just dodged along fine."
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Wow, is this real?
Well, it was shared on Mumsnet, so maybe not, but we have to assume that there’s a real person behind all of this.
Also, it’s a very strange story to concoct, isn’t it?
Asking the internet for advice – always a dangerous game – the woman questioned: "Is there any law against hanging washing?
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“I'm not tumble drying our family's wash when not necessary."
It’s fair to say that she got a decent response, with more than 400 comments coming in.
One said: "No, there's no law against hanging washing and the council won't have any interest in following up a complaint about it."
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Another responded: "The council will laugh. Her email will be the subject of much humour for weeks.”
And a third said: “Just let her send her complain in. If there are any rules that you're breaking you'll find out but I can't imagine there would be."
We’ve had a cursory check – there is currently no law about hanging out washing outside your own house.
It would be a strange one, wouldn’t it?