A school which was previously banned from blowing whistles has now been sued by its neighbour over noise complaints.
Cornwallis Academy, near Maidstone, Kent, had invested £700,000 into a new sports ground, unveiled in June 2023.
Approval for the 3G artificial grass pitch had been given on the basis that no whistles would be used for matches held after hours.
But residents later complained about the noise and accused Maidstone Borough Council of failing to enforce the whistle ban.
The council told the academy to stop using the pitch as it had breached its planning permission.
In 2025, the whistle ban was lifted on appeal, as the council deemed it to not be reasonable, necessary and enforceable, considering the artificial pitch is surrounded by turf pitches where whistles were allowed.
Around six neighbours opposed the lifting of the ban at the time, with one claiming he had recorded noise in excess of 60 decibels using his own sound monitoring equipment.
At the meeting, headteacher Joseph Sutton noted the school had received 137 complaints of noise from the pitch, but said 101 of them had come from the same three people.
Cornwallis Academy's state of the art 3G football field had its whistle ban lifted last year
|But now an unnamed neighbour, who lives 300 feet from the pitch, has sued Cornwallis Academy for breaching environmental protection laws.
Future Schools Trust, which operates the academy, pleaded not guilty at a first hearing at Maidstone Magistrates Court on May 19.
The neighbour accused the school of committing a statutory noise nuisance in breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The resident specifically said the school breached the section of the act which outlaws noise "prejudicial to health or a nuisance".
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Under the act, proceedings may be brought to magistrate's court by those aggrieved by statutory nuisances.
The case is set to be heard at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court on October 23, 2026.
Mason Dadson, a spokesman for Cornwallis Academy, said: "A local resident has commenced legal proceedings against the school in relation to an alleged noise nuisance.
"While it would not be appropriate for the school to comment on the specifics of ongoing court proceedings, it is a matter of public record that the complaint concerns the use of the school’s artificial grass football pitch outside school hours.
"The school denies the existence of a noise nuisance and is fully engaging with the court process."
"The artificial grass pitch was installed in 2023 on the school’s playing fields, in an area previously occupied by two grass pitches.
"It was installed following a detailed planning process, which included input from Sport England, and was approved by Maidstone Borough Council.
"The school’s intention has always been to provide an all-weather, state-of-the-art pitch for both its students and local community youth teams.
"The school remains committed to providing a safe, affordable and inclusive environment in which organised youth teams and community clubs can play, develop and thrive."