PJCNET

I live in a low rise flat complex and there’s been numerous problems with people affected by other residents playing thumping music at all hours of the day and night, this music can be so loud with heavy bass that it literally vibrates other people’s flats, the offenders control when neighbours are allowed to relax or sleep in their own home. When an offender does this, the people effected can complain for months or even years, but rarely anything changes and they discover that more laws exist to protect the offender than to actually help the people suffering from this terrible noise abuse.

My friend is severely effected by a resident that blasts thumping bass at all hours day after day, night after night and nothing he does can stop this repeated relentless abuse, he feels powerless. The abuse effects him in every way, from total lack of sleep he is short tempered and is starting to hallucinate, it’s literally making him ill and is destroying the quality of his life. This offending person continues his abuse and is upsetting numerous other residents too who also complain repeatedly, it’s a very frustrating situation as no-one appears to want to help. Because so little is done to stop this awful type of abuse, some residents are left wandering whether to take to law into their own hands to stop the abuse. I used to live next to a persistent offender and I had to move entirely because I couldn’t cope with the thumping music after almost a year of constant complaints, this is totally and utterly wrong.

The current worst offender who is ruining my friend’s life refuses to listen to any complaints and totally ignores them, residents fear for their safety knocking his door and this just makes him worse still. When one contacts the police, it’s extremely rare for them to listen or help in any way what-so-ever, instead they just advise one to contact Environmental Health instead which is part of the local authority. A number of years ago the responsibility of dealing with the UK noise nuisance problem was passed on to local authorities instead of the local police, hence why the police rarely come out these days, now it’s much harder and a much slower process to control the problem. My friend has called Environmental Health on numerous occasions, the standard number is only open during office hours which is completely useless when the offender is blasting music throughout the night and at weekends. Environmental Health only pass the buck and tell my friend to contact his landlord, he has complained to his landlord on numerous occasions to no avail over many months. When Environmental Health finally do take on a complaint, it takes many months of just logging the problem before they will do anything at all followed by a long process of collecting evidence after that, it can take a whole year when the person affected can’t cope with another night of this abuse. My friend’s landlord has spoken to the offender, but he never listens, my friend is only told that the offender has lots of rights and there has to be masses of evidence before they can do anything, he can’t just be evicted because of the type of tenancy in the property. The noise nuisance problem has been going on for a few years now with this resident and sometimes others joining in, in my opinion it’s totally wrong that the offenders are protected in this way while the people suffering from this abuse are left helpless to do anything. In my opinion the police should do a lot more and if necessary arrest the offenders as they’re ruining people’s lives, yet it’s not taken seriously in the UK. In short if someone is for instance having a loud party at 3am in the morning, residents are powerless to do anything to stop it as the police rarely want to know.

If you are experiencing a noise nuisance problem, please contact your local authority as they do have an obligation to help, you might be fobbed off at first, but be persistent. If you live in rented accommodation, you should also contact your landlord for help. The police unfortunately don’t have any obligation to deal with this abuse any more, but you can try, sometimes one gets further if you ask for your local community support officer. Always keep a log of the abuse and obtain as much evidence as possible without putting yourself at any risk.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, not enough is being done to protect the people suffering noise abuse and too much is done to protect the offenders in the UK. Please write to your local MP if you feel strongly about this matter or if you are affected. I feel that the police should be obligated to help people suffering this problem and if the offenders refuse to stop, they should be arrested. If necessary the law should be changed. The persistent offenders are currently ruining people’s lives and are continuing to get away with it.

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This article is my own personal opinion. It is without prejudice to any local authority, the police, any landlord in the UK or any other person or organisation. My full legal disclaimer applies to this article and all other articles on this website.

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