Report a noise problem

We all live with everyday noise, and are likely to have different views on what noises we find annoying. Nobody has a right to absolute silence, but you should be able to enjoy your home and garden without being affected by unreasonable levels of noise.

By law we can only deal with noise that is defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as being a 'statutory nuisance'. This means the noise must be:

excessive
unreasonable
considerably affecting you and your enjoyment of your home or garden

What action you can take

If you're having problems with noise from a home, garden or business, we'd always recommend that you try to sort it out informally, before contacting us.

Many noise problems, particularly those involving neighbours, can be resolved by approaching them and explaining politely that you're being troubled by noise. You may find this difficult, but often people are unaware that they are causing a problem. Most will be glad to do what they can to reduce noise.

If you live in a Housing Association or rented property, it's worth discussing your problem with your landlord. They may be able to take action under the terms of their tenancy agreement.

Read more about resolving disputes with neighbours, and when to involve us on the government website.

If the noise is coming from a pub or club, the licence holder will usually appreciate you telling them about it first. They'll often try to reduce the level of noise, rather than risk us taking any action that could affect their licence.

If you don't feel able to do this, or it hasn't resolved the issue, you can ask us to investigate the noise.

Noise you can report to us

These are the types of noise you can report to us:

noisy neighbours (loud music, parties, alarms, DIY at unreasonable hours)
noise from commercial premises (entertainment, alarms, ventilation systems)
noise from industrial premises (factories, construction sites, demolition, alarms)
noise in the street (car alarms, street entertainment)
animals (barking dogs, cockerels)

We don't investigate noise due to:

domestic violence
rowdy behaviour in the street (contact South Yorkshire Police by calling their non-emergency service on 101)
vehicle noise
children playing

How to report noise

Use our online form below to report a noise problem to us. In the form you need to tell us:

your name and contact details in case we need to contact you (we won't share these with the person or business you're reporting)
where the noise is coming from
what it is
when it happens and how long it lasts for
how it affects you
anything you've done to deal with it

It would be helpful if you could fill in our noise diary over a period of 2-4 weeks, to give us some more information about the noise and how it affects you. You can upload this, as well as any photos or videos you may want to include in the online form.

Report noise pollution

What happens next

We'll use the information in your form, as well as guidance in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Clean Air Act 1993 to decide if we can investigate your report. We may ask you to fill in our noise diary or send us some other evidence if you haven't already uploaded it with your report.

If we decide to investigate the noise, we'll usually write to the person or business and ask them to resolve the problem before taking any further action. We may also visit the area at the time you've told us the noise occurs. We can also install some noise recording equipment in your home, with your permission.

In most cases we'll need to witness the noise, before we can take any formal action. We can then either serve an abatement notice on the person or business causing the problem or take legal action.

If we decide to prosecute we may ask you to provide a witness statement and attend court. We'll tell you what's involved in this and support you through the process.