Who do I Contact?
The Public Health Team should be contacted if you are affected by any of the following:
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Music that is so loud it prevents you or members of your family sleeping
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Building sites which make noise outside the accepted hours. Working hours for building contractors are usually 8:00 to 18.00 Monday to Friday and 8:00 to 13:00 on Saturday. Contractors working outside these hours may be liable for prosecution
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Intruder and car alarms which ring continuously without their cut off switch activating or the system being turned off
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DIY work during unreasonable hours
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Persistent and prolonged noise from animals, such as barking dogs
This list is not exhaustive, and if you are suffering from any other noise problem, you should contact The Public Health Section to discuss the matter.
We can take legal action on your behalf if we are satisfied that a 'statutory nuisance' is occurring, or is likely to occur or recur. This will result in an enforcement notice being served. If the person responsible for the noise allows it to continue after a notice is served, we will consider prosecuting that individual for non-compliance with the requirements of the notice.
Initially you will be asked to complete a noise diary for 3 weeks, logging all the incidents you felt disturbed by, noting dates and times and describing how the noise interfered with you life. A 'Noise Complaint Record'| form can be download here.
If your complaint is about a neighbour and you are a Council tenant, you should contact your Local Area Housing Office.
If We Can't Help
If we can't take action on your behalf it may be because we are unable to witness the noise. In this case you can take your own legal action by complaining to the Magistrates' Court under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It is not necessary to employ a solicitor and we will be able to give you written guidance on this procedure.
What We Can’t Do Anything About
The Housing Department and the The Public Health Section cannot do anything about fireworks, banging doors, domestic disputes, foul language, children playing or general noise from people running upstairs etc. There is a very large grey area about what amount of noise is acceptable or not, it is mainly due to this that many problems occur. Remember that no home is soundproof, everyone can expect a certain amount of noise from neighbours.