Neighbourhood endures school’s loudspeaker blasting Happy Birthday on loop overnight

The fire service in Spain were called to a school at 4.30am after its loudspeakers blasted Happy Birthday on loop through the night.

The recording of children singing the song in Spanish had been playing on repeat for five and a half hours by the time it was finally stopped.

Unsurprisingly, those living in the area were struggling to sleep, and police were called, who sent the fire brigade to fix the issue.

It’s unclear whether the PA system at the school, in Javalí Viejo, west of Murcia, had malfunctioned or it was a prank.

Local resident Juana said she decided to phone the police because she had ‘a really bad headache’.

‘I told them to call the mayor or whoever, and the police officer who answered the phone started laughing,’ she explained.

‘I said “I don’t care who you need to call, but you have to call someone”.’

It was only when Juana played the song down the phone that the operator believed her and agreed to send the fire brigade.

Firefighter Paco said, meanwhile: ‘The call was treated as an emergency because the situation required it – but it’s true we were already laughing from the start.

‘Once we got inside, it was like walking into a pitch-dark birthday party – the scene was quite surreal, to be honest.

‘We tried to stop the sound from the computers but couldn’t, so we eventually did it from outside.’

A Murcia Fire Brigade spokesperson joked: ‘We didn’t want to ruin anyone’s birthday, but… it wasn’t exactly the right time!

‘Tuesday, 4:30am, – a crew was called out to a school in Javal? Viejo to switch off the PA system.

‘The song had been playing since 11 p.m.

‘Happy birthday from your friends at the Fire Service.”

Pablo commented: ‘The neighbours won’t want to hear that song ever again.’

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