We can act on excessive levels of noise from commercial or industrial properties considered to be a statutory noise nuisance. We need to monitor the noise complained of from within your home or premises.

You will be asked complete a noise diary for 2 weeks before we investigate unless the noise is continuous.

Before you report a noise, you should try to speak to the person responsible for the noise. Should talking with them not resolve the problem, or you feel unable to approach them, you could write a letter. We have a letter template that you can use to do this.

For a nuisance to exist, the noise would need to be unreasonable and substantial enough to interfere with the use or enjoyment of your property, not simply an annoyance.

For a noise to amount to a statutory nuisance, two conditions must be met:

• it must cause significant interference to the normal occupation of a premises by a person of average sensitivity
• it must be caused by some unreasonable or unusual act or omission or behaviour

Noise we can deal with

We can investigate:

• unreasonable noise from loud music from pubs, clubs, and bars
• complaints relating to a breach of Premises Licence, for example, noise from a venue's outside area beyond the hours permitted on their licence - this will also need to be referred to our Licensing team
• noise from intruder alarms
• noise from construction sites or building works outside of permitted hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, Saturday, 8am to 1pm)
• noise from plant, machinery, or equipment such as air handling units, refrigeration units or extraction fans

Noise we cannot deal with

We cannot investigate:

• traffic noise, revving engines, idling engines, car stereos, sounding horns
• noise from trains or aircraft
• track works to rail (at any time)
• noise made by military forces
• noise from campaigning or demonstrations
• rowdy behaviour in the street

We cannot investigate if you don’t know where the noise is coming from or if you refuse to provide us with your name, address and contact details. Please make sure your complaint is regarding something we have the power to deal with before reporting it.

Find out how commercial noise complaints are investigated.

Take your own action through the courts

If all else fails, you can take legal action. See our guidance on taking your own action.

Out of hours noise service

To report a noise problem that is happening outside of normal working hours, call us on 0800 506 050.