A couple received a noise complaint from the council about laughing in their garden .
Shula and Jim Clark enjoyed a small gathering with friends in August at their home in Colchester, Essex.
But days later, they received a letter from the council outlining a complaint had been made about "loud laughter".
Shula, who works as a childminder, told Essex Live : "I wasn't upset, I was just completely shocked.
"I found it quite amusing actually because we are never out late, this was the first time all year.
"I was shocked that someone would be so petty.
"What is the world coming to if you can't sit in your garden on a summer's evening with your friends."
Shula claims most of the guests were in the house by around 11pm after dining outside.
She stresses the music inside wasn't loud but the council, which has no overall political control, says "raised voices" were heard until the early hours.
Shula added: "I would never complain about something like this. People are entitled to have a good time when the weather is nice.
"There is always dogs barking around here late at night but you don't see me phoning the council about that.
"I just wish they had knocked on my door if we were causing a problem, that way I could have apologised and tried to be quieter.
"But it was a nice dinner party, hardly a nuisance."
After they received the complaint Shula's husband asked her mum who - lives in the annex in the garden - if they kept her up that evening and she said she didn't hear them at all.
When the couple phoned the council to discuss the complaint, the couple offered to have them round to see the light and put in a formal complaint if necessary.
However, Shula added that they told her they understood her point and said it is procedure to follow up any complaints.
"It hasn't put me off spending time in my garden at all," she said.
"In fact we hosted a similar event last weekend and we haven't had any complaints about that, well not so far."
In a statement a Colchester Borough Council spokesman said: "Our environmental protection team received a complaint that a resident was being repeatedly disturbed into the early hours at weekends by noise from raised voices and loud laughter in a neighbour’s garden.
"The frequency and time of the disturbance indicated a potential statutory nuisance, which the council has a legal duty to investigate.
"In this instance, it was felt that sending an informal letter to the individuals concerned was the most appropriate initial response."
