A couple could receive matching "his and hers" anti-social behaviour orders after allegedly making neighbours' lives a misery.

Gail Kimber, 33, and boyfriend Jason Comber, 31, are said to have terrorised neighbours with their constant rowing, aggressive dogs and abusive behaviour.

Complaints from others living in Trueleigh Close, Woodingdean, Brighton, reached such epic proportions that Brighton and Hove City Council took the couple to court.

During the first day of evidence at Lewes Combined Court Centre yesterday (TUES), Gayle Martin, who lives next door to the couple, said their dogs had smashed through her fence and that she regularly heard them rowing extremely loudly.

Mrs Martin also claimed she and her partner had been threatened by the pair, including on one occasion being called a "****ing muppet".

She said: "It has a very big effect on my life and on other people living in the road.

"Quite often after some incidents it would take me an hour or so to calm down. I would be very shaken."

Mrs Martin, who has a two-year-old child, moved into her terraced property in 2004 and told the court she never experienced any trouble from neighbours until Kimber and Comber moved in during early 2007.

Almost immediately loud rows began between the pair, including large amounts of swearing.

That offended her and others in the street, the court was told, with Mrs Martin particularly worried about her child's welfare.

She said: "We can only use one bedroom at the moment, we are all sleeping in one bedroom, because the noise is so bad in all the others.

"If I'm at home for any length of time, I will hear them. It may be every day or every other day."

Mrs Martin told the court that on one occasion the couples' dogs smashed their way through fence panels dividing their gardens, forcing Mrs Martin and her child to rush inside.

The dogs did not break into the garden, but Mrs Martin said she was scared for her safety.

Another row erupted after a fence panel broke, prompting Comber to dump it into Mrs Martin's garden.

On a further occasion Mrs Martin's partner went to the couple's property to ask them to keep the noise down and was chased back into his own home by Comber, the court heard.

Mrs Gayle was accused of being "over sensitive" and "simply scared of big dogs" by lawyers acting for Kimber and Comber, but she denied the claims, saying she had been "genuinely scared" and upset.

The case was adjourned last night and is set to reconvene at a later date when magistrates will be asked to grant the ASBO orders, potentially restricting the couple's behaviour.

Kimber and Comber are due to move to Ladies Mile Road, Patcham, Brighton, on Thursday, the court heard.

The case continues.