RESPECT and responsibility are the key words where noisy neighbours and rowdy revellers are concerned.

Today, we reveal the level of noise complaints, area by area, across the city.

And it is clear many residents are suffering the frustration of sleepless nights.

Everyone has the right to enjoy the peace and quiet of their home and get a good night’s sleep without being woken by careless partygoers.

So the next time you are walking back from the pub or having fun at a house party, just think about others and tone it, or turn it, down.

But, as Divinity Road Residents’ Association chairman Elizabeth Mills suggests, people also have the right to enjoy themselves.

If you live near a pub, you must expect a reasonable amount of noise at kicking-out time.

Oxford is a university city, so student parties are inevitable.

If we all show respect, many problems could be resolved through a quiet word or a polite note the day after any revelry, or even an invitation to join in the fun.

Those throwing parties should remember we are a reserved nation: if neighbours have resorted to a “polite note” through your door, it means you have been driving them to distraction for months.

In these cash-strapped times, the onus is on us, as citizens – not councils or police – to tackle this problem.

Last year, the Oxford Mail revealed just how stretched the city council’s environmental heath teams were, trying to cope with their workload.

Since then council and police budgets have been slashed, so we must allow them to concentrate on the major issues and sort more minor issues out ourselves.

Not everyone will agree with that, but it is the reality of the times we live in.