East Suffolk Council
Noise complaints
You can report a noise nuisance if it is:
- unreasonable
- causes significant disturbance to you and your household
- interferes with the enjoyment of your home
Before you report a noise nuisance:
- If the noise is from your neighbour, we recommend you talk to them and try to resolve the issue between yourselves.
- If it is not safe or appropriate to talk to them on this matter, or the nuisance continues, you can report it to us.
- If it is anti-social behaviour please use our online anti-social behaviour reporting form.
- If you suspect noise is related to domestic violence, abuse of another person or a violent incident you should call the police on 999.
To investigate and resolve your complaint we may share your information with other services and external agencies following data protection principles.
Types of noise we can and cannot investigate
| Complaints we can investigate | Examples | Complaints we cannot investigate |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints where the noise is a problem because the complainant is sensitive due to personal or medical reasons. | ||
| Noise from domestic premises such as loud music, TV or radio. | Loud parties late at night. | General everyday living noise, such as babies crying, toilets flushing, light switches, washing machines or where there is poor sound insulation between properties. |
| Noise from commercial premises. | Deliveries to shops or music from licensed premises. | Where the business is taking all practical steps to reduce the noise. |
| DIY activities taking place over long periods at unreasonable hours. | Where it is at reasonable times. | |
| Continually ringing alarms in homes and on vehicles. | Usually from faulty alarms. | Where an offence is taking place. |
| Noise from plant, machinery and equipment. | Such as fan units or conveyor belts. | Noise from emergency or statutory repairs to utilities such as water pipes, gas pipes. |
| Noise from construction and demolition sites. | Reversing bleepers, staff playing radios. | Noise where there is no alternative building or construction methods available. |
| Noise from sporting activities, such as motor bike scrambling, clay pigeon shooting. | Noise from road, rail or air transport. | |
| Noise made by equipment in the street. | Loudspeakers, ice cream chimes or buskers. | Noise from people walking, talking, or shouting in the streets. |
| Dogs that persistently bark or noise from other animals. | Persistent noise. | |
| Noise from warehousing, factories or industrial premises. | Loading and unloading of deliveries or noise from industrial processes. |
Noise from domestic premises - How can we help?
In many cases, the person/s causing the noise may not be aware that they are causing a problem, and all that is required is a polite request for some action to be taken to resolve the issue in a friendly way. Please contact us if you don't feel able to deal with the problem yourself, or if you have tried and it hasn't worked.
We will contact you within 3 working days to talk through how you are being disturbed. Please leave a contact number and email address, if you have one, so we can call you back.
We will ask for information including; where the noise is from, how it affects you and your household and dates and times when it takes place.
We then write to the address where the noise is coming from and ask that the noise is reduced, or steps taken to not cause disturbance.
What we need from you
We will need enough information from you so that the persons responsible knows how to take the right steps to deal with it. We will offer advice and assistance to the person/s causing the noise disturbance and listen to their side of the situation.
We will ask you to keep a diary of incidents which will help us to decide if the situation is serious and an investigation is required. It often indicates when the noise is most likely to happen.
What we provide
To carry out an investigation we will need to visit you in your home to assess the noise in your property.
We aim to visit when the noise is happening, so we offer a call out service during office hours. You will also be offered a visit by an Officer to assess the noise while it is taking place. (subject to availability)
We can also install noise monitoring equipment that is operated by a simple on/off button by you, when you are disturbed, to record the noise as it takes place.
If you are unable, for whatever reason, to let us visit your home to witness the noise, we will assist as much as we can, but we may not be able to take any formal action if the disturbance continues.
Out of hours service
During the summer season, on Friday and Saturday nights, from the beginning of May to the end of September, we provide an out of hours service which enables you to report a problem to the officers on duty so they can attend if possible and witness it. Call the out of hours service on 0800 440 2516.
What if the noise continues?
Formal Action
We will investigate to gather enough evidence to prove the noise is a “statutory nuisance” or “persistent and unreasonable and detrimental”.
These are legal terms that we must prove are being met by demonstrating the impact of the noise on you and others and that it is unreasonable.
If we are satisfied that we have good evidence we can serve a formal notice requiring the noise stops or is reduced to a suitable level, or times it takes place.
If this notice is ignored and you are still being disturbed, then we can take action through the courts. This is at a criminal level and therefore, we need robust evidence and witness statements.
If the noise is from equipment, such as TVs or stereos, we have the power to seize and remove from the property, after we have served a formal notice (without prosecution).
Mediation
We will always try and resolve the issue informally and encourage good neighbourly relations. It is better for all concerned to live as good neighbours.
Sometimes we can help by using a mediator, so both sides can feel heard and understood.
Resolution
We aim to investigate and reach a decision within 3 months. If we haven’t gathered enough evidence within 3 months, it is unlikely that there is a significant issue that reaches the threshold.
The case officer will review the case with a senior officer and agree the outcome of the investigation. We will let all parties know whether we are closing the case or need to take further action.
Sometimes you may not agree with our decision and that you want us to take further action. You will have to provide enough evidence for us to show significant impact on you and your household. Noise that is annoying or irritating or happens infrequently, is not something we can deal with formally.
If we are unable to prove that the noise meets the legal threshold, then we will close our investigation unless there is a material change in the situation.
The legal threshold
There is no set definition, but case law has defined a statutory nuisance as a “material interference with the comfort and enjoyment of another’s home.”
In practice, to be a statutory nuisance, the noise would have to be excessive and unreasonable in the circumstances and significantly interfere with the use and enjoyment of someone’s home. Examples could be disturbance of sleep, forcing you to close your windows, or preventing you from using your garden, due to the level, time, frequency and duration of the noise.
There is no fixed noise level, time of day, frequency or duration defined in law. These are, however, taken into consideration in any investigation. The council can only take formal action if it is satisfied that the noise is causing a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or is detrimental under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.