Report barking dogs
Action you can take
If dogs are barking persistently there is a reason for it. If you are disturbed by your neighbour's barking dogs, try to approach the owners first. If the dogs bark when they are left on their own, their owners may well not realise there is a problem.
If you don't feel comfortable contacting your neighbour face to face, why not write them a letter using our template guide.
If this fails, or you are not happy about approaching the owners, then you can make a complaint about noise nuisance to us. We will then investigate the matter.
What happens after you have reported the nuisance?
We may ask you to complete a record sheet which logs all incidents of the nuisance over a period of time, usually three weeks. Whilst we do not divulge the name of the person making the complaint, please note it may be obvious to them who that is.
If we think there is a problem then we could install noise monitoring equipment. We need to establish whether a statutory nuisance is occurring and witness this to take action.
The action we take will depend on the nature of the problem and could range from writing a warning letter to serving a legal abatement notice.
If someone is found guilty of failing to comply with an abatement notice they can be fined up to a maximum of £5,000 for domestic noise and up to £20,000 for commercial noise.
Response times
We will initiate an investigation as soon as practicable but within a maximum of 5 working days.
Please note that we do not offer an out of hours service. Complaints will be investigated the following working day.