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Burglar alarms Noise from burglar alarms can cause a great deal of distress and annoyance to occupiers of neighbouring properties.
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Allowing your house alarm to sound for a long period of time or on a frequent basis could constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Under this legislation, the St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Environmental Health team can serve a legal notice on the owner or occupier, if it witnesses a statutory nuisance. This notice would require the person responsible to silence the alarm. If the alarm continues to sound, causing nuisance, and the owner or occupier has not been found the law allows us to deactivate the alarm. We will normally obtain a Warrant from the Magistrate. This enables St Edmundsbury Borough Council to gain entry by using a locksmith and to disconnect the alarm from inside the property (if it is not possible to disconnect the alarm from outside the property). St Edmundsbury's Environmental Health team take every care not to cause damage and to leave the property safe and secure. The Environmental Health team leave a notice inside to inform the owner or occupier and also inform the Police of our action. St Edmundsbury Borough Council usually recover the costs from the owner or occupiers of the property.
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What you can do to avoid this happening? - Have the system regularly maintained by a qualified engineer, who will also come out and fix the alarm should it go off accidentally.
- Register the details of a key holder the St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the police.
- Let your neighbours know who the key holders are.
- Ensure that the alarm is set properly and that windows and doors are closed.
- Have a cut-out device fitted so that the audible alarm switches off after 20 minutes.
- Remember - if your alarm has been installed incorrectly, then not only could it cost you money, it could also badly affect your relationships with your neighbours.
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What you should do if an alarm sounds near you: - You should, in the first instance, ring the police - they will respond if there has been a break-in. They will not, however, act to silence the alarm if there has not been a break-in.
- If you feel the alarm is causing a nuisance, try to establish the exact source of the nuisance; this enables the problem to be resolved more swiftly. Note down the address and any other relevant details such as the name of the company on the alarm box.
- Ask neighbours if they know the whereabouts of the owner or occupiers, or if anyone knows who holds a key.
- If the alarm is causing a problem over a long period of time, you can phone us on 01284 757053 during office hours or 01284 763252 for out-of-hours.
- Please do not leave it until the end of the day to report a problem - it is easier for us to deal with the problem if we received the complaint earlier in the day.
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Car alarms Noise from car alarms can cause a great deal of distress and annoyance to occupiers of neighbouring properties.
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Allowing your car alarm to sound for a long period of time or on a frequent basis could constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Under this legislation, St Edmundsbury Borough Council can serve a legal notice on the owner, if it witnesses a statutory nuisance. This notice would require the person responsible to silence the alarm. If St Edmundsbury Borough Council cannot find the owner the council places the notice on the car. If after one hour an alarm is still sound and the owner has not been found, the law allows us to deactivate the alarm. St Edmundsbury Borough Council will use a specialist company to deactivate the alarm. St Edmundbury Borough Council's Environmental Health team will not necessarily enter a vehicle, it will depend on the circumstances e.g. the type of car and where it is located. Some vehicles have sophisticated alarms that cannot be deactivated by alarm specialists. If this is the case we may tow the vehicle away. After entering a vehicle St Edmundsbury Borough Council must ensure that it is left secured of immobilised. If this is not possible arrangements are made for it to be towed away. Vehicles are not left with valuable contents unsecured. Whenever St Edmundsbury Borough Council enter a vehicle and leave it secure in its original position, a notice is left inside to inform the owner. The Police are also informed of our actions. Costs are usually recovered from the owners of the vehicles.
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What you can do to avoid this happening? - Have the car alarm installed by a suitably qualified person.
- Have the system regularly maintained by a qualified engineer, who will also come out and fix the alarm should it go off accidentally.
- Ensure that the alarm is set properly and that windows are closed.
- Remember - if your alarm has been installed incorrectly then not only could it cost your money, it could also badly affect your relationships with your neighbours.
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What you should do if a car alarm sounds near you: - If you feel the alarm is causing a nuisance, try to establish the exact source of the nuisance, this enables the problem to be resolved more swiftly. Note down any relevant details such as the vehicle registration number, model and colour of the car.
- Ask neighbours if they know the owner and where they live.
- If the alarm is causing a problem over a long period of time, you can phone Environmental Health on 01284 757053 during office hours or 01284 763252 out-of-hours.
- Whenever possible, please do not leave it until the end of the day to report a problem. It is easier for the Environmental Health team to deal with the problem if the complaint is received earlier in the day.
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