NEIGHBOURS in a “tranquil” village say the calm has been destroyed by a football pitch at the bottom of their gardens.

People in Greenway, Totteridge Village, say the noise, constant swearing and lights shining up from the 3-a-side pitch, which backs directly onto their houses, is “distressing”.

Garry Simpson, of Totteridge Green, was originally given planning permission to move a tennis court from one end of his garden to another – but sparked fury when he built the pitch instead.

He has applied for retrospective planning permission and Barnet Council have recommended it for approval.

But people who live nearby are staging a last-ditch attempt to block the pitch and want it to be torn down.

Father-of-two Raoul Federman said: “It’s disturbing because he didn’t apply for planning permission for this. He says it's 3-a-side but they definitely have more than six people there.

“The swearing from he and his friends playing football means we aren’t able to enjoy our gardens like before. All we can hear is the clash of the ball against the wooden boards he has built.

“I am so frustrated because every morning I look out of my curtains and all I can see is what looks like a prison at the end of my garden.

“We have been here for 20 years and it’s distressing to see. It used to be so tranquil, lined with trees, but that’s all gone.”

His 13-year-old son complains of not being able to sleep because the floodlights shine through into his bedroom.

The 46-year-old, who works in finance, added: “We can see how detrimental it is – we want the council to see that.”

It was built last September but the neighbours claim it has not been used since the retrospective application was lodged.

The pitch, which sits in a conservation area, also includes a 1 metre high timber frame where the balls bounce off.

His neighbour, Mariead Flaherty, says her children cannot do their homework in the kitchen at night because the flood lights shine in.

The mother-of-four said: “You can hear shouting from my kitchen table and my children’s bedrooms. It is irritating.

“The noise is a clud, clud, clud – it is constant. It is winter and we haven’t had the windows open but I can still hear it from my kitchen.

“The neighbours who have small children have had to bring them in from the garden because of the swearing.

“It’s bad enough it goes on in the day, but at night too?”

But Garry Simpson, who owns the house, claims the pitch is only for his children and rarely uses it with friends.

He said the lights are “domestic” and have been angled downwards so they do not shine into anyone’s homes.

He added: “I don’t see how the lights can bother them or shine into someone’s bedroom 200 feet away when they are eight foot off the ground and are hidden by trees.

“I did that because one neighbour knocked on my door.

“There is soft netting around the pitch but it is not loud. Kids playing football in the garden will make a noise, it happens.

“You could argue everyone who owns a dog in the road for instance, which barks until 11pm at night, makes a noise but you get used to it.”

He also pledged to plant more trees along the boundary to help conceal the pitch.

The planning committee will meet at 7pm on Thursday at Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs.