SHE played her music so loudly she reduced her neighbours to tears.

Mum-of-seven Emma Fogarty made their lives a misery for months by blasting out pop hits by artists such as Rolling In The Deep by Adele at "unbearable" volume.

She also plagued her neighbourhood by hosting raucous parties where guests screamed and shouted leaving people living nearby in "extreme distress", a court heard.

Now Fogarty, 28, has been fined £1,200, ordered to pay £150 court costs, a £30 victim surcharge and £635 council investigation costs.

She has also had her sound system and television, worth around £480, seized.

Fogarty, a barmaid, of Windermere Avenue, Millbrook, Southampton, was due to appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court but failed to turn up.

But magistrates found her guilty in her absence of two charges of causing a nuisance by amplified sound and two charges of causing a nuisance by raised voices.

The court heard how neighbours of city council tenant Fogarty had reported her chronic unacceptable behaviour on many occasions.

A statement read to the court from Cath McKenna-Willcox, environmental health technician from the city council, said the blaring music had left neighbours in tears and "extreme distress".

Mrs McKenna-Willcox said two charges related to an incident at around 8.32pm on July 14 and involved a mixture of loud music and raised male and female voices.

She wrote: "I could hear females screaming at each other, messing around and lots of laughter. I could hear lots of females singing the lyrics to a song called FURB by Frankee which had a lot of swearing. I could also hear children's voices when there were gaps in the music.

"I walked around the complainants house and could hear music from every room it was a nuisance, there was nowhere to escape it. The neighbours I spoke too were very distressed by the whole situation."

Fogarty, who has seven children ranging from 12 years old to a newborn baby, was issued with a warning but on August 14 just before 3pm, more complaints were made about raised voices and loud music.

Mrs McKenna-Willcox's statement said: "This time you could hear the walls vibrating from the sound of the music. It was painful, you could barely make out what song it was because it was so loud and completely unacceptable. When I left the complainant's house I could still hear the music from my car."

After the second incident, the city council was given permission to enter Fogarty's property and seize her electrical goods, including a music player and television.

After the case neighbours told the Daily Echo about their ordeal.

A woman, who the Daily Echo is not naming, said: "It's just unbearable and a complete disgrace. It's all hours of the day, completely relentless and the worst part is she subjects all her children to it.

"Her all night parties and smaller gatherings are a regular event, sometimes going on for days, and possibly all through the weekend. The noise levels are horrendous when they get into full swing. Her guests have argued and fought on the premises."

Another neighbour, who we are also not naming, added: "It's actually overwhelming and makes living here extremely uncomfortable. A lot of us can't take it anymore and feel completely helpless. We're sick of it and hate it."

Fogarty declined to comment when the Daily Echo contacted her at her home after the case.