A New Malden man has been fined after the barking of his 10 dogs disturbed neighbours.

Peter Whibley, 47, of Kingston Road, was found guilty of breaching a noise abatement order in May, after a trial at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court today.

He had already pleaded guilty to an earlier breach, which occurred in February.

Magistrates ruled the steps he had taken to reduce the barking, including rehoming four dogs, were not enough to avoid conviction.

Magistrate Maxwell Jackson told Whibley: "We appreciate how much you love your dogs.

"The problem will not go away unless you take drastic steps to change things.

"In a nutshell, it is the number of dogs. You are going to have to rehome some more of them."

Neighbours told the court how the barking woke them up early and made spending time in their gardens difficult.

Whibley was fined a total of £350, and ordered to pay court costs of £320, plus a £20 surcharge.

Kingston Council's barrister, David Collins, had applied for costs of £3,200.