Neighbours' noise faces crackdown

The council has already begun a ‘night-time noise’ service on Friday and Saturday evenings, when sufferers can ring a special number to gain immediate action.

But now they want to go a step further - and dampen down noise complaints by five percent by March 2009. And in the first four months of the campaign, they have registered an above-target seven percent fall in calls. A shocking fifth of all Rotherham residents say they suffer “seriously” or “very seriously” from noise abuse, but very few approach their neighbours with complaints.

An environmental health spokesman said: “The outcome of early consultations with members of the public shows that only one in 50 people will contact their neighbours to discuss problems. This allows problems to escalate to a level where formal action is sought. We have identified this as a key area to change the behaviour of those who aren’t discussing things because they don’t want a drama.

“The major concern of people in Rotherham is domestic noise and this is viewed as an area to address to ensure that the strategy is successful.”

A recent poll showed that around 90 percent of residents believed the new out-of-hours noise service was at least ‘good’.The council is also warning those who flout the law that tough action will be taken.