A woman given an ASBO banning her from noisy sex is appealing against the order on the grounds she is "powerless" to control herself during romps.

Caroline Cartwright, 48, has been given a four-year anti-social behaviour order preventing her from "making excessive noise" during saucy sessions with her husband.

The order was made by Sunderland Magistrates in April after she repeatedly breached a noise abatement notice made after 250 complaints from neighbours.

Cartwright, of Hall Road, Concorde, Washington, has launched an appeal against the making of the order at Newcastle Crown Court.

Her grounds for appeal are that she is unable to control her vocalisation during lovemaking, and any attempt at restricting her behaviour is a breach of her human rights.

The hearing, before a judge and two magistrates, is expected to last two days.

Prosecutor Andrew Walker told the court: "The case against her is while she is engaged in a perfectly private and normal act for her own home she chooses to engage in it in such a way, because of her excessive volume and nature of her shouting and screaming, that is it selfish, it is thoroughly anti-social and it does cause a clear nuisance that we say no neighbour ought to have to suffer.

"No local authority could stand idly by and ignore.

"Her case appears to be she is powerless to control or modify her behaviour during sexual intercourse and thus she says it is a material and inevitable consequence of sexual intercourse.

"Presumably she will argue she has a reasonable excuse for making the noise."

The court heard Cartwright will argue Article 8 of the human rights act will be breached if her ability to have sex with her husband Steven, 48, is interfered with.

To help prove her case of being powerless to control herself during lovemaking Cartwright will call a consultant in psychosexual medicine to deal with her "involuntary vocalisation."

The case continues.