What?

One night out is enough to damage your hearing, according to the RNID - who say that nine out of ten young people have experienced the first signs of hearing damage after a night at a concert, bar or nightclub.

Experts say that sound levels higher than 85 decibels will damage hearing over time.

The hearing charity recommends the use of earplugs, but says that young people are reluctant to wear them because they are unappealing. It is launching a competition for design students to create fashionable earplug design.

Young concertgoers we yelled at, however, suggested that the main reason they went to gigs was to hear their favourite bands play, rather than not hear them play.

The announcement follows recent claims by a French sound engineer that listening to dynamically-compressed MP3 tracks damaged hearing. Dire predictions were also made in the early 1980s that listening to cassette tapes on a Walkman would lead to certain deafness, and in the 19th century Thomas Edison was warned that his new-fangled gramophone device would gravely impair the hearing of future generations. Strangely, however, in spite of all of these auditory assaults, people are somehow still managing to hear stuff.

Reports that the RNIB was preparing to announce that just one bright pink item could permanently damage young girls’ eyesight are, as yet, unconfirmed.