GRAHAM Farley told London's High Court how the "intensely annoying" din of jet engines competed with sweet birdsong in his ten-acre garden.

Mr Farley, 51, bought Riverside House, Blackboys, near Uckfield, for £420,000 in 1991, hoping to escape the madding crowd of London, the court heard.

He says he only realised after moving in that the house lay close to a flight path into Gatwick and that the idyllic valley setting was not as quiet as it seemed.

Now Mr Farley, an entrepreneur, is suing chartered surveyor Michael Skinner, who he claims he instructed by telephone to inform him of any aircraft noise affecting the property during a survey in 1990.

He is claiming substantial damages to cover the alleged diminution in the value ofhis home, as well as his discomfort and loss of enjoyment.

But Mr Skinner, of Hurstpierpoint, strongly denies liability in the case, insisting the survey was carried out with all due professional skill and care.

Mr Skinner's counsel, Mark Simpson, asked Mr Farley why, if he found the aircraft noise so annoying, he did not sell the house and move on.

But Mr Farley replied he had invested eight years of his life in Riverside House and had put down strong roots in the local community.

Mr Simpson referred to evidence from a neighbour who described the sound of aircraft flying overhead as neither an intrusion nor an annoyance.

Another neighbour said aircraft noise was never a problem in the Blackboys area, and a chartered surveyor decribed the area as 'not materially affected' by aircraft noise.

The hearing is expected to continue for several days.

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