Dylan's portable lavatory getting complains from neighbours

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has landed himself in trouble with his neighbours, after his portable lavatory caused noxious fumes to travel over the wall into the house next door.

Dylan, 67, set up the portable lavatory to cater to his security staff, who patrol his estate in Malibu at night.

However, his neighbours have now complained that the stench coming from it is making parts of their house no longer habitable.

"Mr Civil Rights is killing our civil rights!" the Independent quoted David Emminger as telling reporters, as he pointed out the controversial, blue portable lavatory, which is behind a storage container next to a wire fence that marks the border of Dylan's property.

Emminger claims that his eight-year-old son, David junior, has fallen ill from the fumes.

"It started in September. I'd go into the front yard and get nauseous," Emminger's wife, Cindy, told the Los Angeles Times.

"I couldn't figure out at first where the smell was coming from, until I finally noticed that they had moved the porta-potty directly in front of my front door.

"We both have allergies and are sensitive to chemicals. It's worse when it's misty outside at night. We turn on the five fans, but it still gets inside our house. We're not even using the upstairs now. We sleep downstairs," she added.

The couple have had to install five industrial-sized outdoor fans in their front yard to blow noxious fumes back on to Dylan's property.

Malibu City public health officials are investigating the complaint, though when the city tried to send an officer to inspect the contentious lavatory in January, he was turned away by Dylan's security staff and accused of trespassing.

"[The guard] said they were going to sue the city," an inspector told the paper.

No comments on the matter have been made by Dylan's spokesman or his New York-based attorney.