Noise Pollution/ out of Hours Noise service

Complaints about excessive noise are investigated by the local authority, which can take action if the noise is considered to be a statutory nuisance.

Noise nuisance is covered under the law by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This means that Local Authorities can deal with noise from domestic and commercial premises and also some noises in the street from sources such as machinery or building works (outside of certain hours). The Council can take informal action on behalf of affected residents in the form of warning and /or advisory letters and also visits to both victims and persons responsible for noise.

To take formal (legal) action, the Council needs to be satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, which means the Council has to prove that the noise is prejudicial to health and/or is causing an unreasonable and persistent disturbance to your lifestyle. To prove this the Council can use different methods such as a personal visit by officers to witness the nuisance, by placing recording equipment in the affected person’s premises (under certain circumstances) or by assessing diary sheets kept by the affected person/s over a period of time. If the Council is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, then they will serve an abatement notice on the person/s responsible, requiring them to stop making the noise either immediately, or (in a situation where some maintenance work needs to carried out on noisy machinery) over a set period of time. If the notice is not complied with and a Council officer witnesses a breach of the notice, then legal action can follow.

There are a number of different sources of noise pollution that can cause problems including: -
loud music
neighbour noise
barking dogs/noisy animals
Do-It-Yourself work
building works
car and house alarms
noise from refrigerated units in shops
ventilation fans
domestic appliances
parties
home entertainment equipment
local pubs and entertainment

While excessive noise from neighbours can be frustrating, in many cases the person making the noise is unaware that they are causing a problem and issues can be sorted out quite quickly.

Eligibility
None.

Required Customer Information
None.

Service Level Agreement and Turnaround
Initial response in one day. Written response in 10 days.

More information about this service

Contact Us

Frequently asked questions

Address:
Pollution Control - Noise
Civic Centre
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XY
Map

Telephone:
Council Contact Centre on 0208-379-1000 Out Of Hours Team
Public Health Team District Officers on 0208-379-3663

Fax:
020 8379 4453

Voicemail:
020 8379 4419
(Text phone?)

Opening Hours:
Out Of Hours Team:
10.00pm Thursday to
3.00am Friday

9.00pm Friday to
3.00am Saturday

9.00pm Saturday to
3.00am Sunday

9.00pm Sunday to
3.00am Monday

Public Health Technical Support Team:
8:30am – 5:00pm
Monday to Friday

Useful Links

DEFRA

DfT

ODPM