Leading causes of noise nuisance in Preston revealed

Loud music and barking dogs were the leading causes of noise complaint made by Preston residents about their neighbours this year.

The two dins topped the list of disturbances reported to Preston City Council’s noise service, continuing a decade-long trend.

During that time, the overall number of registered complaints has held steady at between just under 900 and a little over 1,100 a year – with the latter peak coming during 2020, at the height of the lockdown era.

The 2024 tally looks set to sit squarely within that range, with 895 reports having been made by the end of November, the latest date for which figures are available.

Within that total, music volume was the most complained about issue – cropping up 281 times.   Dogs barking attracted 172 complaints over the same period.

A catch-all category of ‘other’ domestic noise racked up 228 reports, but that figure includes multiple different noise sources emanating from the home, such as DIY and shouting.

The city council has also taken enforcement action on 161 occasions – with music and dogs being the main single reasons.   That move usually involves the issuing of a ‘noise abatement notice’ – a breach of which can result in prosecution and fine.

However, a senior officer within the authority’s environmental protection team told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that problems could often have been nipped in the bud long before it got to that point – and even prior to a complaint being made – if people were more willing to “communicate” with each other.

“If, say, you are going to be having a party, just let your neighbours know,” says Lucy Davies (not her real name, which she did not want publishing).

“If you’re not inviting them, then maybe just put a little card through the door or on your [neighbourhood] WhatsApp group to say, ‘Look, we’re having a party, it might be bit noisy, but we’ll be finishing at such-and-such a time – and if gets too loud, then please just knock on.’”

Lucy has the same advice for music-lovers and anybody who is going to be doing noisy house renovations – but stresses that advance notice also comes with the need to be considerate.

“It’s about trying to be responsible and reasonable – and letting your neighbours know, for example, when you’re having some work done.  If neighbours spoke to each other, they might be able to resolve [these things] in a more amicable way,” she explains.

“And if you’re causing an irritation to your neighbours because you’re playing your music too loud, talking to each other might be a way of resolving it and coming to an agreement rather than [the council] having to investigate.”

When it comes to the disturbance that can be caused by barking dogs, Lucy says their owners may actually appreciate being made aware of a canine cacophony if it is happening in their absence.

“It might be that the owners go out to work and the dog gets lonely and bored – and is stimulated if someone walks past or if it can hear the neighbours.

“Most owners won’t want their dog to be distressed while they are out – and so if it is that sort of situation, we have a dog warden who can [offer] advice on ways to minimise their dog barking.”

Lucy says her advice can simply be summed up as: “Be a good neighbour.”

“And the way to do that is to be reasonable in your behaviour and communicate with your neighbours if there’s likely to be an issue – because you’ll find that people are more tolerant and accepting if you do.”

However, the experienced noise officer knows only too well – not least from dealing with an average of 1,000 complaints a year in the city – that consideration and compromise can sometimes prove elusive.  And that is where she and her team come in.

“[Noise] can be quite upsetting, [particularly if it is] impacting sleep or people are perhaps in poor health.  It can be quite frustrating to be trapped in [such a] situation,” Lucy adds.

‘If your neighbours can sing along, it’s probably too loud’

Preston City Council’s noise service swings into action to deal with persistent problems that could be classed as a ‘statutory nuisance’ because of the effect they are having on a person’s quality of life.

Although the authority does occasionally intervene over one-off events like a party or an alarm sounding – which generate a large number of complaints while they are actually happening – its primary role is to gather evidence of noise that is occurring repeatedly over a period of time.

For that reason, the noise service is mainly focused on gathering evidence of how disruptive and disturbing a particular activity is for those living within earshot of it.

Since people prone to making an unreasonable noise often have no regard to the time of day or night they do so – which can, of course, be part of the problem – the city council operates an out-of-hours service to which reports can be made until long after dark.

The authority runs a night-time noise phone line, designed largely to advance investigations into previously-registered complaints rather than look into new issues being reported for the first time. It is open between 7pm and 1am, Sunday to Thursday, and until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The service enables officers to be dispatched to hear complained-about noise for themselves when it is actually happening – and so helps determine whether it crosses the statutory nuisance threshold.

Lucy Davies says the night noise facility is particularly useful for investigating the most common cause of noise complaint in Preston – loud music.

“An officer can then make their own assessment based on the circumstances. So if I’m standing in somebody’s bedroom at one o’clock in the morning – when it would be reasonably expected that they might be wanting to sleep – and I can hear loud music, [I can judge] whether I believe [it] would be sufficient to be a statutory nuisance.

“We also have noise monitoring equipment that we can install…[but] there’s really no better evidence than an officer saying:  ‘I visited the bedroom at 1am, I could hear the music and these were the lyrics’…or even [testify to] something like a bass beat,” Lucy explains.

‘No cut-off time for noise’

Lucy Davies says it is a “common misconception” that nobody can cause a noise nuisance during the day.

“There is no cut off time. If someone is living in flats and they’re, for example, playing music really loud during the daytime, then it doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to sleep or not.

“If it’s loud enough to be disturbing you and your property, then we can look at it and we will make an assessment of whether it is a nuisance.”

What happens next

Once a noise nuisance has been established, the city council will contact the person causing it to bring the matter to their attention.  The first step is usually to offer advice as to how they can stop being a source of misery to their neighbours.

“[With music], we could arrange a sound check and agree a reasonable level at which their music can be played and at which they wouldn’t then be causing a nuisance,” Lucy Davies explains.

“If we can’t have that conversation or the person isn’t compliant and is not willing to take the advice on board, that’s when we do have to take a firmer line – and we would then look at a legal notice being served.

“Again, that can be a check on the person’s behaviour and they may moderate [it] after that. But if they don’t – and we witness further breaches – then we would be looking at potentially going to court to get a warrant to seize the noise-making equipment, such as stereos and TVs, for instance.”

Prosecution for breaches of a noise abatement notice can also result in either a lump sum fine or a fine for each further day the recipient of the notice fails to comply with it.

Ultimately, a local authority can apply to the High Court for an injunction, if a prosecution has not been adequate.

However, even when a statutory nuisance is not deemed to have occurred, Lucy says the city council will still try to broker a resolution to noise-related complaints.

“[For parties, we might say] how about you don’t have the speakers outside…or move inside after a certain time and watch your windows and doors.’’