Video of an ex-US Marine dancing to Gangnam Style at his daughter's birthday

• The dancing 'damas' are famed for performing choreographed routines
• But they arrive with noisy loudspeakers, which angers local residents 
• Man serving six months for shooting a gun into the air to get them to stop 
• The Chinese government has now intervened to avoid further incidents

China is cracking down on dancing by middle aged women in public places after angry neighbours began to take things into their own hands.

The women, known as 'damas', have become a hot topic in China, with stories about their choreographed routines lighting up the news channels.

But the routines tend to be performed to loud music - and this has been annoying people living nearby so much they have started to throw objects at the groups.

Tension: The groups of women, known as 'damas', have become famous for choreographing routines which they then perform in the middle of public squares to loud music

Anger: But the noise has angered some neighbours and led to confrontations

A man in Beijing who could not bear the loud music played by local dancers was jailed for six months after he fired a gun into the air in protest, the state-run China Daily reported last year. 

In the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a simmering dispute between enthusiastic 'damas' and their irritated neighbours made headlines in 2013 when the residents threw coins, rocks and ultimately faeces at the group in a bid to make them stop.

Then recently it was revealed a group of women were so desperate to perform their dance in Shanxi, northern China, that they pushed a car out of the way. 

The government has now been forced to step in, before problems escalate further.

'Public square dancing will enter into the social management system,' a joint statement from four central departments, including the culture ministry and the civil affairs ministry, said.

The agencies will manage dancing in accordance with existing laws, it added.

'Dancing in public squares, as a cultural sporting activity deeply loved by the masses... has enriched the spiritual lives of people,' the statement said, but added: 'Problems such as inadequate space and... disturbances to local residents by noise and defects in management mechanisms have gradually appeared.' 

Measures: So the Chinese government has decided to crack down on the dances to avoid future problems

The China Daily said in March that authorities had hired an 'expert panel' to choreograph 12 state-approved dances.

The government statement won plaudits from users of Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

'It is good to ensure that damas will never disturb citizens close to residential areas,' one person said online.

'It is definitely necessary to discipline them,' added another.