Over 1000 warnings to noisy neighbours

Almost 1400 warning notices have been issued by South Lanarkshire Council over the last decade in relation to noisy neighbours.

Now the local authority are looking to raise the profile of the issue, and how it affects people, with their support of Noise Action Week (May 23-28).

The annual event, co-ordinated by Environmental Protection UK, provides a focus for reducing the impact of noise from households, raising awareness of noise problems and encouraging everyone to consider how they can avoid causing a disturbance.

It also gives the team a chance to remind residents of the wide range of powers available to the local authority to deal with an issue that is one of the biggest causes of neighbour disputes in our communities.

Councillor Hamish Stewart, chair of Community Services, explained:“if noise levels are found to be too high, a warning notice can be issued requiring that things quieten down. If this warning is not heeded, a fixed penalty notice for £100 can then be imposed, and equipment can be seized.

“Many noise problems happen at night and, in recognition of this fact, environmental services officers are on duty between 6pm and 3am seven nights a week to respond to ongoing issues.”

In the 11 years that the out-of-hours team have been operating, 1387 warning notices and 57 fixed penalty notices have been issued, with equipment being seized on 20 occasions.

The out-of-hours team have also helped members of the public with thousands of non-domestic noise complaints and general environmental health enquiries during that time.

Day-time noise problems can be reported through the Customer Service Centre on 0303 123 1015, while ongoing noise at night should be reported to the council’s 24 hour control room on 0800 24 20 24.

For further info on the campaign, visit www.noiseactionweek.org.uk .