Noise complaints

Complaints we deal with

You can report the following noise complaints to the council:

• noisy neighbours (music, shouting, alarms, DIY at unreasonable hours).
• noise from commercial premises (entertainment, ventilation systems, alarms).
• noise from industrial premises (factories, construction, demolition, alarms)
• car alarms or loud stereos (only if vehicle is parked).
• nuisance barking.

Before you make a complaint

You should first try to resolve the problem early on by talking to whoever is responsible for the noise, before going down the formal complaint route. The Problem Neighbours website has some useful advice on how to do this.

How to make a complaint

Please note you will need to create an account.

Once you have logged in you will need to use the 'Request' option to submit your complaint.

Please then pick: 'Environmental health - noise complaint' as your request type, unless you are complaining about noise from a house in multiple occupation (HMO) when you will need to pick: 'Housing - report a noise problem with an HMO'. 

Report a noise complaint online

Read our privacy notice which tells you how we use your data.

What happens after I make a complaint?

We will normally send you a log sheet to record details of the noise with dates and times. This helps us to investigate your complaint. You must return the log sheet within six weeks of the complaint or we will not proceed any further.

We will also write to the person or organisation you are complaining about to tell them a complaint has been made.

If the noise continues after they have received the letter, an inspector will assess the log and if there is evidence that a statutory nuisance exists, we will serve a notice for the noise to stop or be reduced.

If this is ignored we can prosecute. We can also obtain a warrant from a magistrate, where appropriate, to seize noise making equipment.

If the inspector cannot find evidence of a nuisance, they will advise on how you can take action yourself in the Magistrate’s Court.