A man whose annual display of 22,000 Christmas lights failed to impress his neighbours was given an injunction yesterday banning him from putting them up this year.

People living close to Vic Moszczynski in Sonning-on-Thames, Berks, told a court that marriages had been put at risk by the lights, which attract sightseers to their otherwise quiet drive.

The display attracts thousands of vistors each year

Some spoke of their frustration at queues of traffic, including coaches, and of disturbed nights that had led them to take sleeping pills.

Mr Moszczynski responded by calling the ban "a sad day for Christmas" and said his display had raised £55,000 for charity. The injunction was obtained at Reading county court by Wokingham council and will last for three years.

The council had originally sought to ban all lights outside Mr Moszczynski's house but both parties agreed on a much-reduced display of 300 bulbs, which must not be attached to the walls or roof.

Mr Moszczynski, a business development manager, started his display 18 years ago. It has grown to include flashing cartoon characters, yuletide figures and ribbons of bulbs.

Neighbours said the noise of cars and coaches, people shouting and petty crime in the road caused major disruption each Christmas. But Mr Moszczynski, 50, denied the lights had caused distress and said they were enjoyed not only by his family but by people from miles around.

Speaking outside the court, he said: "I am disappointed, very disappointed. I will just have to visit other people's displays or move, which is what my wife wants to do."

He raised money for Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation and Daisy's Dream, a charity for bereaved children, by taking donations from sightseers. The electricity bills from the displays are thought to total £25,000.

Paul Turrell, the deputy chief executive of Wokingham council, denied that the authority was playing "Scrooge" and said it attempted to negotiate with Mr Moszczynski.

"I am glad he has given an undertaking that he will scale down the lights and I hope this will allow Sonning's residents to enjoy Christmas without fear of crime and anti-social behaviour," he said.