A Nottingham council is warning noisy neighbours across the city to be aware after a woman was slapped with a hefty bill for making too much noise in her St Ann’s home.
Tara Street, 25, of Palmerston Gardens was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £1936 after being convicted in her absence at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court for five offences of contravening a noise abatement notice.
The fine comes after the 25-year-old’s neighbours complained to Nottingham Community Protection’s pollution control team and speaking after the trial, a council chief at Nottingham City Council welcomed the conviction.
Councillor Dave Liversidge, the authority’s portfolio holder for community safety, housing and voluntary sector, said that he hoped it would deter other people from conducting this type of anti-social behaviour, which he claimed makes life a misery for their neighbours.
“Persistent loud noise, in whatever form, coming from a property can be really debilitating, especially for the elderly, those with young children or who work shifts or irregular hours.” He added.
Speaking of the conviction, Cllr Liversidge said: “It sends out a strong message that anti-social behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated and we will pursue those people who show such blatant disregard for their neighbours and wider community.”
Nottingham Community Protection’s pollution control team originally served Street with a noise abatement notice on April 17 last year, however continued to receive complaints from neighbours.
Audio recording equipment was installed to gather evidence the following month and again in August.
Officers from the authority applied for a warrant from the court on both occasions and were given permission to enter the property with bailiffs to seize equipment which was causing the loud noise.
On May 22 they collected a hi-fi and speakers, an iPod and speaker cable, two televisions and a DVD player. They returned on August 20 to seize two more televisions, another DVD player, a tablet device, games console, and gaming chair with speakers.
At the magistrates’ hearing on December 31, the court also granted the council’s pollution control team a forfeiture order, which means that the seized equipment is now the property of the authority and will not be returned to Street.
