Vanessa Feltz must pay £3,000 after noisy two-day party

Television presenter Vanessa Feltz was ordered to pay more than £3,000 by a judge today for throwing a noisy all-weekend party at her St John's Wood home.

She pleaded guilty by letter at City of Westminster magistrates' court to breaching two council noise abatement orders over two days in March.

Twelve complaints were made by neighbours about music coming from a marquee in her garden. Feltz, 48, wrote that it had been a "double family celebration".

District Judge Daphne Wickham fined the mother of two £1,500, with £1,715 in costs to Westminster City Council, for the "most inconsiderate" breaches.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said complaints were first made on the Saturday afternoon. Noise patrol officers warned Feltz it was "inappropriate" to play music from the marquee in a residential street and served an abatement order after she explained they had been testing music for a party to be held later that evening.

Another complaint was made just after 10pm, and an officer visited just after 11.30pm to say the noise was keeping neighbours awake.

It was turned down, but 40 minutes later another four complaints came in. The next day more complaints were made, just after 8pm and again after 10pm. The noise was turned down "after a while", said Mr Stevenson.

Feltz maintained the noise was lowered immediately on request on the Saturday night, said the judge. "On the Sunday I think she says she herself was not present for some of the time in the evening.

"She appears to express her regret and solemn assurance it will not happen again... in fairness this appears to be a one-off affair."