Meet the seven Sports Science boys behind Lough’s notorious ‘party house’

A resident of an infamous “party house” has given The Tab an exclusive insight into the highs and lows of living in Lough’s most controversial home.

The magnificent seven, who all study Sports Science and play football at an elite level, would go on to clock up an incredible NINE visits from the local police, incur the wrath of Loughborough councillors and be awarded ASBOs, all in little under a year. Alun Webb moved into 16 Ambleside Close with six of his closest mates in September 2014.

As they warred with incensed neighbours, the ASBOs Alan and his mates were slapped with were torn up and strewn across Ambleside Close.

Alun, 20, said: “We ended up ripping those ASBOs up, because there was literally nothing we could do to please the police or the neighbours.”

The house became so notorious that killjoy councillors wanted to take away the residence’s HMO credentials, meaning it would never be allowed to host rowdy Lough undergrads ever again.

16 Ambleside Close. Photo: Loughborough Echo

But it’s not a story Alun or any of his friends would recognise. He said: “From the off we were at war with the neighbours from hell. It was a mad street, a bit like Hot Fuzz – the neighbours looked normal and you wouldn’t really suspect anything – but they were more of a nightmare than we were.

“Any time I walked down the road and I was there they were completely rude, cold and unfriendly.

“On our first night in the house we were having a casual pre-drinks, nothing crazy, nothing loud. There was a knock at the door and this guy was stood there, furious, offering us out, saying: ‘Come out here, lets have it’, we told him to do one.”

According to the Loughborough Echo, infuriated local residents issued a stream of complaints about the boys’ behaviour, including but not limited to: setting up a trampoline in the driveway, loud partying and sunbathing on the roof.

The magnificent seven: Alun and his mates

Alun laughs at the mention of the trampoline: “I had a trampoline at my old place, which was about one mile down the road from this one. We came in from a night out around 7am, walked up there and brought it back to ours. We were pretty wasted at that point.

“What you haven’t seen in the press, and what those councilors didn’t mention, is when we came back from the Christmas holidays someone – I reckon it was one of the neighbours – had slashed the trampoline with a knife. It was completely out of order.

“I think generally we understood it was a residential area but frankly, they didn’t get that we’re all students and occasionally we want to have a good time.”

Alun and his mates took their football obligations seriously, so seriously in fact, they rarely went out more than once a week due to training and matchday commitments. He is also adamant that noisey pre-drinks at the property were kept to a minimum.

The boys mostly pre-drank at other houses

“I am not saying we were completely innocent, in some ways we were bigger lads than the street could handle – as the only students on the street we stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Sometimes we were a bit loud, like when we suitcase surfed down the staircase or the time we played cricket with a cake one of the lad’s girlfriends made.

“At the end of the day, so many of the complaints made by the neighbours were vindictive and prejudiced against us because we were the only students on the street.

“Some of them were made up – they said we were partying on days when we were out playing football or nights when we had training the next day.”

After countless noise complaints were denied by the boys, the police threatened to place intrusive voice recording equipment in their suburban home. What ensued was a Kevin Keegan style – “I would love it if you did that” – counterattack from Alun and his friends:

“We told the police we would love it if they installed voice recording equipment in the house – so we could prove the neighbours wrong.

“Some of the complaints were unbelievably trivial, we were having a kick around in the garden when the ball rolled under a neighbor’s car – they called the police there and then. It was ridiculous and we were being victimised.”

The boys – who will all be living together next year – returned home from a charity football tournament at the end of the year to find the driveway covered in rubbish and their cars trashed. Alun suspects foul play on the part of the local residents.

“Have you ever seen the film Bad Neighbours? I’m not even exaggerating when I say it got like that at points.

“When we went back to the place to pick up some stuff I got looks that could’ve burnt me alive. Good luck to whoever lives their next.”

Alun also has a message for exasperated councillors like Margaret Smidowicz, Mark Lowe, Brenda Seaton, who variously lambasted the house and its inhabitants.

“There are two sides to every story. We made an effort to be quiet – but it can be hard to do that when you’re smashed. Our neighbours should have a long hard look at themselves.”

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said: “Between September 2014 and May 2015 we were called to a property in Ambleside Close on numerous occasions to deal with reports of anti social behaviour.

“During this period we received 14 reports of a group in one house being the perpetrators of anti social behavior. This same group reported being the victims of anti social behaviour once.”

The spokesperson could neither confirm nor deny if voice recording equipment was used to monitor noise levels at 16 Ambleside Close.