Loud music and barking dogs top noise complaints

Loud music and barking dogs were the leading causes of noise complaints made by a city's residents about their neighbours in the past year.

More than 160 people were the subject of enforcement action in Preston for causing anti-social noise.

The total number of complaints was just under 900, about average for recent years except for a sharp rise in complaints during lockdown.

The council is urging people to let neighbours know in advance if they are planning events which will cause loud noise.

A senior officer within the authority's environmental protection team, who did not want to be named, said: "If, say, you are going to be having a party, just let your neighbours know.

"If you're not inviting them, then maybe just put a little card through the door to say, 'Look, we're having a party, it might be bit noisy, but we'll be finishing at such-and-such a time – and if gets too loud, then please just knock on.'"

She has the same advice for music-lovers and anybody who is going to be doing noisy house renovations , stressing "be a good neighbour".

Preston City Council's noise service occasionally intervene over one-off events like a party or an alarm sounding – which generate a large number of complaints while they are actually happening – but its primary role is to gather evidence of noise that is occurring repeatedly over a period of time, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The officer said it was a "common misconception" that nobody can cause a noise nuisance during the day.

"If someone is living in flats and they're, for example, playing music really loud during the daytime, then it doesn't matter whether you're trying to sleep or not," she said.

"If it's loud enough to be disturbing you and your property, then we can look at it and we will make an assessment of whether it is a nuisance."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected] and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.