Swedish citizen Tullgren was able to persuade officials that his inability to stop listening to heavy music made it impossible for him to find regular work � and amounted to a disability.

Six years ago they agreed and paid him income support of several hundred pounds a month. At the time he said: "I have been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap. I spoke to three psychologists and they finally agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against."