Noise nuisance

Alarms

Car alarms

If we receive a complaint of a misfiring car alarm we will make reasonable attempts to find the person responsible for the vehicle, including making enquiries of the police.

While enquiries are being made, a notice will be fixed to the vehicle and, if the responsible person cannot be found within one hour, we can authorise works to stop the nuisance. This will mean either entry to the vehicle to silence the alarm, or the removal of the vehicle to a secure location.

If we take the above action then the keeper of the vehicle will be responsible for all expenses reasonably incurred in carrying out the works. This can be several hundred pounds.

A person who removes or interferes with a notice fixed to the vehicle shall be guilty of an offence unless permission has been given by the keeper of the vehicle.

Intruder alarms

Audible intruder alarms are widely used to protect property from unauthorised entry. Burglar alarms that are sounding should be reported to the police so that evidence of criminal activity can be investigated.

Alarm systems should stop sounding after 20 minutes. However when alarms do not turn off or sound on and off repeatedly, where there is no evidence of a break in, it is likely that we will receive complaints.

If an alarm system is reported as causing a noise nuisance, we will try to contact a keyholder so that the problem can be resolved quickly and with the minimum of fuss. You can register your alarm keyholders with us.

If we are satisfied that an alarm is causing a noise nuisance and we are unable to contact a keyholder within a reasonable period of time to silence the alarm, then formal action will be taken to stop the nuisance.

An abatement notice requiring the alarm to be silenced will be served on the occupier and an electrical engineer will also be summonsed to silence the alarm box.

The occupier will be responsible for paying all costs reasonably incurred in stopping the nuisance. This can be several hundred pounds.

Report noise nuisance

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