Summary: Ms X complained about the Councils handling of her complaints about noise and dog mess from a neighbouring property. Ms X says the matter caused her distress and affected her health. We have not found any fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Councils handling of her complaints about noise and dog mess from a neighbouring property.
2. Ms X says the matter caused her distress and affected her health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), councils have a duty to take reasonable steps to investigate potential ‘statutory nuisances’.
8. Activities a council might decide are a statutory nuisance include:

• noise from premises or vehicles, equipment or machinery in the street;
• smoke from premises;
• smells and fumes from industry, trade or business premises;
• artificial light from premises;
• insect infestations from industrial, trade or business premises; and
• accumulation of deposits on premises.

9. For the issue to count as a statutory nuisance, it must:

• unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other property; and/or
• injure health or be likely to injure health.

10. There is no fixed point at which something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. Officers may, for example, ask the complainant to complete diary sheets, fit noise-monitoring equipment, or make site visits. Councils will sometimes offer an ‘out-of-hours’ service for people to contact, if a nuisance occurs outside normal working time.
11. Once evidence gathering is complete, a council will assess the evidence. It will consider matters such as the timing, duration, and intensity of the alleged nuisance. Officers will use their professional judgement to decide whether a statutory nuisance exists.
12. The law says that a potential nuisance must be judged on how it affects the average person. Councils cannot take action to stop something which is only a nuisance to the complainant because they have special circumstances, such as a medical condition which makes them unusually sensitive to noise or fumes.
13. Councils can also decide to take informal action if the issue complained about is causing a nuisance, but is not a statutory nuisance. They may write to the person causing the nuisance or suggest mediation.

Abatement notices

14. If a council is satisfied a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, it must serve an abatement notice. If the nuisance is noise from premises, the council may delay issuing an abatement notice for a short period, to try to address the problem informally.
15. An abatement notice requires the person or people responsible to stop or limit the activity causing the nuisance. Failure to comply with an abatement notice is an offence, which can lead to prosecution and a fine.
16. A person who receives an abatement notice has a right to appeal it in the magistrates’ court. If they can show the court they have done everything reasonable to prevent or minimise the nuisance, the court may decide the abatement notice is not appropriate.

What happened

Noise

17. Ms X contacted the Council in August 2023 to complain about noise from a neighbouring property. The Council responded with instructions of how to use a noise recording application (app) to record the instances of noise. The council also wrote to Ms X’s neighbours.
18. The Council noted in mid-August 2023 the recordings provided at that point did not amount to a statutory noise nuisance.
19. The Council contacted Ms X towards the end of August 2023 to ask her to keep using the noise recording application. The Council told her it would need to witness the noise to take any further action.
20. The Council contacted Ms X in mid-September 2023 to ask her if the noise issue had been resolved as the number of recordings she made had decreased. Ms X responded to say she had been recording so there may be an error with the app.
21. The Council confirmed at the end of September 2023 it had now received the recordings Ms X had made.
22. The Council arranged a visit to the property in early October 2023.The Council’s notes record an officer was on site for around 45 minutes and did not witness a statutory nuisance.
23. The Council arranged a further visit in late October 2023 and again witnessed normal levels of noise at the property.
24. Ms X contacted the Council the day after the late October visit to say the noise levels were particularly bad and asked the Council to attend again. The Council attended the same day and witnessed an occasional bark from a dog and an intermittent bang.
25. The Council contacted Ms X’s neighbour about the intermittent bang it had witnessed.
26. Ms X contacted the Council in early November 2023 to ask for an update.
27. The Council told Ms X it was in contact with her neighbours to try and improve the situation.
28. In mid-November 2023 Ms X recorded on the noise app the noise was as bad as ever. The Council replied to say it would need to witness the noise to take action.
29. The Council made a further visit to Ms X’s property in early December 2023. This was a night-time visit but again the Council did not witness any noise.
30. Ms X emailed the Council shortly after its visit to ask if it could act regarding the noise. The Council emailed Ms X to say it had made four visits to her property and that a statutory nuisance had not been witnessed on any visit. The Council told Ms X she could take her own action if she wished but that it would be closing her case.
31. The Council wrote to Ms X in mid-December to confirm it had closed the noise complaint.
32. Ms X raised a complaint in January 2024 and said she felt the Council had not taken any action, were biased towards her neighbour and had not considered her health issues. Ms X also said the Council had refused to contact the noise app creator to get her recordings.
33. The Council contacted Ms X in late January 2024 to discuss getting the recordings to her.
34. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in February 2024 and said the recordings showed little or no noise. The Council said it had made four visits to Ms X’s property and it had witnessed little or no noise.
35. Ms X asked for her complaint to be escalated in late February 2024 as she felt the issue with the recordings had not been addressed.
36. The Council issued a stage two response in May 2025.

Dog fouling

37. Ms X contacted the Council in early September 2023 to say her neighbours were not cleaning up dog mess in their back garden.
38. The Council wrote to Ms X’s neighbours in mid-September 2023 to ask them to address the issue of dog mess in their garden.
39. Following a visit to the property in late October 2023 the Council wrote to Ms X’s neighbours about the dog mess in their garden. The Council continued to contact Ms X’s neighbours throughout November to try and address the issue of the dog mess.
40. The Council told Ms X her neighbours had advised they were addressing the dog mess issue in mid-November 2023.
41. Ms X sent the Council photos she had taken of the dog mess in her neighbour’s property in early December 2023. The Council issued an Abatement Notice shortly after which demanded Ms X’s neighbours clean up the dog mess.
42. The Council checked the neighbour’s property shortly after it issued the Abatement notice and were satisfied it was clear.
43. Ms X raised a complaint in late January 2024 and contacted the Council to say the dog mess had built up again. The Council wrote to Ms X’s neighbour again about the mess.
44. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in early February 2024 and said it had issued an Abatement Notice about the dog mess and the property had been clear when it checked it.
45. Ms X’s neighbour’s told the Council the dog mess had been cleaned up in early February 2024.
46. Ms X asked for her complaint to be escalated in late February 2024.
47. The Council attended the property in late February 2024 and a further Abatement Notice was issued in early March 2024. The Council again visited shortly after it issued the notice and Ms X’s neighbours had cleared up the dog mess.
48. Ms X contacted the Council again in early May 2024 to say the dog mess had built up again and the Council attended. The Council contacted Ms X’s neighbour about the dog mess.
49. The Council issued a further Abatement Notice in mid-May 2024 and arranged for a contractor to clear the mess.
50. The Council visited Ms X’s neighbours’ property in early and mid-June and found no dog mess.

Analysis

Noise

51. The Council acted on the report received from Ms X quickly and directed her to use the noise app to record any instances of noise.
52. The Council reviewed the recordings and decided it did not form a statutory nuisance in August 2023 but continued to monitor the recordings. The Council noticed it was not receiving recordings in September 2023 and contacted Ms X about this. This shows the Council was actively monitoring the matter.
53. The Council arranged visits to Ms X’s property but did not witness any noise it classed as statutory nuisance. Ms X has said she feels her neighbours were aware of the visits and made less or no noise at those times. However, I can see the Council attended on a day Ms X said was particularly bad at short notice and it again witnessed no noise.
54. The Council explained to Ms X it would not be taking any further action after it did not witness any noise it would class as a statutory nuisance and advised her she could take further action herself.
55. I have not found any fault in the actions of the Council.
56. Ms X says the Council did not provide her with the recordings she had made from the noise app and she had to force them to do so. I have seen the Council communicated with Ms X about the recordings after it closed the matter, and I understand Ms X has now been provided with these.

Dog fouling

57. The Council acted on the reports received from Ms X about dog mess in a neighbouring property quickly and contacted her neighbours to try to resolve the issue.
58. When Ms X reported further issues to the Council it reviewed the situation and issued an Abatement Notice. The Council followed up its notice and found the dog mess had been cleared up.
59. Each time Ms X has reported issues of dog mess in her neighbour’s property the Council has acted to try and resolve the issue and has issued Abatement Notices where necessary.
60. The Council has also instructed a contractor to attend Ms X’s neighbours’ property to complete works to clean up the dog mess following Abatement Notices being issued. The Council has then continued to monitor the situation.
61. I have found no fault in the actions of the Council.
62. I appreciate my decision will be disappointing for Ms X. It is important to note the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. We do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes the Council followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether Ms X disagrees with the decisions the Council made.

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Decision

I find no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman