Episode 14 Noise Squad

'All over the UK, millions of people just like you and me

'are being driven up the wall by anti-social nuisance noise.'

It's just constant, and I don't think they get a grip

of how annoying it is.

You just lie there waiting for the next noise, the next time.

That's what really gets you.

'Persistent parties,

'aggravating alarms,

'and banging builders.

'They're keeping us awake, disturbing our peace and quiet,

'and driving us to despair.'

It really is stressful and irritating.

It's just frustrating never knowing when you're going to get a wink of sleep.

'But the fight back is on.'

You need to speak to us, we're getting complaints about the noise.

'Across the country, dedicated enforcement teams

'are getting to grips with nuisance noise

'24/7.'

I need to speak to them now because it is so unbearable.

So it we get any further complaints, you will end up with a £100 fine.

'Enough is enough. It's time to put an end to nuisance noise.'

Every lyric is audible, all the tracks are identifiable.

'It's time to meet the no nonsense Noise Squad.'

'Raising the roof today on Noise Squad,

'noisy builders are driving one local resident up the wall.'

It's too much. It gets too much. Every weekend, you can't relax.

'Officers take a cautious approach when called to a rowdy party.'

People are trying to drop something out of the window on top of us

'And the team are called back to deal with a repeat noisemaker.'

Just after 11:20 and we've been able to hear every single word of every track,

in somebody's bedroom.

'Westminster in the heart of central London is home to a quarter of a million people.

'Like many big cities across the UK, constant building work is taking place,

'and, like it or not, that causes noise.

'Chris Sibanda has worked for the council's noise squad for four years,

'and is well used to dealing with noisy builders.'

You have worked outside the permitted working hours many times.

'People who suffer from nuisance noise are often at the end of their tether

'when they call Chris and his colleagues, and he knows that when dealing with their complaints

'they have to stay cool, calm and collected.'

Let me have a word with them and give them some advice.

If they continue to disturb you, you need to call us back.

'It's Saturday and Chris is on his way to a block of flats

'to investigate a complaint about loud building work taking place after 1 PM.

'And that's against the law.'

I think I know this building site.

If it is the same building site, I served a notice on the contractor

and if they are carrying out any noisy work,

then I may consider to instigate legal proceedings.

'Legally, builders can only carry out noisy work with heavy machinery

'between 8 AM and 6 PM Monday to Friday,

'and between 8 AM and 1 PM on a Saturday.

'Anything outside these hours or on a bank holiday is illegal.

'As Chris has already served a noise abatement notice on these builders,

'if they're making a racket and he can't get them to quieten down,

'they could be facing a trip to court and a fine.'

I need some evidence.

Whether I can hear any noisy works which are being carried out.

'In order to take any action, Chris has to witness nuisance noise first-hand,

'and when he arrives at the block of flats,

'the first job is to go and see the complainant.'

I can hear some noise, some drilling.

'He's not in, so Chris calls his mobile.'

Yes, I'm outside your premises. I'm ringing your door bell.

'Apparently, the noise has got too much for him,

'and he's headed out in search of some peace and quiet.'

OK, I'll wait for you. The complainant is coming back.

He had left the house, because he is saying it's too noisy.

So he is coming back.

'After a few minutes, the complainant, Colin, arrives,

'and he and Chris head up to his flat.'

Yes, yes, I can hear it.

-But with a window open.

-Oh, no.

These guys are just...

If you go straight through to the end.

The window's still open.

It's straight across, you can see people working by the window.

If they'd close the window, it wouldn't be as bad.

But they're not supposed to be working past 1.

Every weekend, and they've got a circular saw,

with the window open, and it's a courtyard.

'There's no noise at the moment, but Chris can see where the builders are working,

'and Colin is at his wits end.'

When they were taking the ceilings down,

they were just pulling at the ceiling, and it was crashing onto the floor.

-Do you remember they were smashing windows in there?

-Yes.

Instead of taking down a glass partition delicately,

or with any respect, they just hit it with a hammer. The noise!

-It was unbearable.

-If they were to just close their windows, it wouldn't be so bad,

but to do it in a courtyard like this is just...

And you can't rest, and it's just noise after noise,

and it's been every single weekend for the last six to eight weeks. It's just too much.

'But Chris is a patient man.

'He doesn't have to wait long to witness the noise that Colin's telling him about.'

Starting.

GENERATOR RUMBLES

Right. I need to go to the site and stop the noisy works.

Then I'll give you feedback on what action I'm going to take.

Because I served a notice on them,

I think I served a notice about six weeks ago,

and I'll keep you posted.

But I'm going to stop the noise now.

That's fantastic.

As I say, it's been going on for weeks and weeks and weeks,

and they've just been ripping the guts out of that building.

It's bad enough they're allowed to start at eight o'clock in the morning

with a circular saw, but to continue that all day long is just...

And then to come back on a Sunday when they've been told repeatedly not to do any work.

If they come back tomorrow, give me a ring.

I'll leave you with my number. I'm starting at seven in the morning.

I'll leave you with my direct number.

Phone me straight away.

Fantastic. At least I can stay at home this afternoon.

I was going out for the afternoon because it's too much.

It gets too much. Every weekend, you can't relax.

So I'll go and stop it.

I'll ask them to leave the site this time around,

because this is too much.

-And then if it happens tomorrow...

-Thank you very much.

-Give me a ring.

-OK, I will.

Finally, finally the end.

Thank you.

'As it's a Saturday and well after one,

'Chris is legally empowered to get this noisy building work stopped immediately.

'Colin is pleased that Chris has been able to witness the noise.'

Every time there's noise, I phone up and I go through the same process.

I give my contact details, I tell them exactly what's happening,

they can even hear it on the phone in the background.

But the issue is that they can't do anything

unless they actually catch them,

and this is the first time we've ever been able to get somebody

to come in here and experience it from our point of view.

So hopefully, now that they've been caught, and it's been captured,

and there's no ignoring the fact that they've now been caught actually making all the noise.

So we're just keeping our fingers crossed this is the end of it.

'Having witnessed the nuisance noise first-hand, Chris can now take action

'and we'll be with him shortly as goes to confront the builders.'

No, no! Don't do it. No, no! Don't do it.

That's noisy?

It's noisy inside somebody's flat. No, don't do that!

'All across the UK, the biggest source of nuisance noise

'comes from noisy neighbours.'

I sometimes have neighbours out arguing, and they're slamming doors and all that.

It wakes you up, really, when it's really loud.

A few years ago, people had respect for people's sleep time, and that.

Now it seems to be right through the night,

into the early hours of the morning.

'And by far the biggest problem people have with their neighbours,

'are noisy parties that go on into the early hours, keeping them awake.'

Just persistently had parties, had people back,

four, five in the morning, and my family just couldn't deal with it, so they ended up moving.

'Like other cities across the UK, Belfast has its fair share of problems

'with noisy parties.

'But the council's noise squad are always on hand

'to crack down on those that refuse to keep it down.'

You need to turn it down or you'll end up getting fined later on.

-You're going to have to knock the tunes on the head, all right?

-It's not that bad.

It's annoying three different apartments.

You need to turn the music down. If we have to come back tonight, it's a £100 fine.

'Tonight, noise enforcement officers Jim and Steve are on duty.

With ten years' experience between them dealing with nuisance noise,

'they're no strangers to handling rowdy revellers.'

It's some music, some voices.

Aye, but it's not that bad.

'It's after midnight,

'and the lads are on their way to deal with a complaint

'about a party that a neighbour says is keeping them awake.'

I think we're going to have to call in with her.

Right, if you get out here, I'll park the car.

Hi, it's Jim, here, with the night time noise service.

You phoned us earlier. Are you still being bothered?

-Yeah, do you want to come up?

-Please.

The complainant confirms that the noise is still bothering them,

and buzzes the lads into the flats.

They're bothered by loud music from a flat in the adjoining property.

From what she's saying, it runs across the top of her flat,

so she's saying it's coming through the ceiling

rather than through the wall.

'The first job is to assess the level of noise in the complainant's flat.'

It goes up and down, And sometimes it's louder.

No, that's totally unreasonable for the time of night.

-Very, very loud.

-And, like, this has been since half ten this morning.

There's three flats up, but then there's a fourth one, and it goes up and over.

Well, what we're going to do is, we're going to try and serve a warning notice on them.

It's a legal notice, it gives them ten minutes to abate the noise.

If they don't turn it off, then the onus is on you

to phone us back, and we'd take a measurement from the bedroom.

If it stays at that level, it will be a £100 fine.

So we'll go now. Give it about 15 minutes.

-If it's still going in 15 minutes' time, phone us back.

-Will you be, like, outside?

No, we've got other calls, but phone us in 15 minutes,

we'll make our way back to take a measurement if... All right?

-That's fine.

-No problem.

'Different councils deal with nuisance noise in slightly different ways.

'Here in Belfast, if officers think there's a problem,

'they can issue a warning notice.

'If this is ignored, the noise maker faces a fine of £100.

'If that fails to sort the problem,

'they could be taken to court and be given a bigger fine.

'Jim and Steve have decided that the level of noise

'coming from the party is too loud for this time of night.

'They're going to serve the party holder with a warning notice.'

We'll buzz and see if we can get the door open.

Buzz and see if we can get the door open

It's the tenth, isn't it?

It's not that stuck.

-What time is it?

-It is quarter past midnight.

'It's a long way up to deliver the warning.'

Need to stop for a breather when we get up to the top.

-Hiya, there. We work with the City Council, night time noise service.

-OK.

We've had a complaint from one of your neighbours.

OK, sorry.

Now, I don't know if you're aware, but you need to turn it right down.

-We've been in their bedroom. You see the way that's carrying?

-Is it going through the roof?

Youse are literally just on top of her bedroom, you know?

-So that's a legal notice, it remains in effect from now until 7 AM.

-OK, we'll definitely...

So if we get any further complaints, you will end up with a £100 fine.

When I was in their bedroom, if it stays at that level.

-Appreciate you're having a good time.

-No, man. We'll turn it down.

-Need to tone it down a bit.

-No problem.

-Cheers, thank you.

Night.

'The party holder had no idea the music was causing a problem,

'but he's apologised straight away and promised to turn the music down.'

I'm not as fit as I thought I was.

How many flights was that? I mean, that's a considerable number of flights.

'It's a quick and simple result for Steve and Jim.'

It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

when they come to the door and they're co-operative.

'Following the lads' visit, there were no further complaints about this party,

'and no further action was needed.'

'They might have silenced these revellers without too much fuss,

'but we'll be with Jim and Steve as they head to investigate

'a complaint about another loud party.

'Finding it, though, is easier said than done.'

It's either that one over there, or it's next door.

'In Westminster, noise enforcement officer Chris Sibanda

'is dealing with a complaint about noisy building work.

'It's after one on a Saturday,

'and noisy work with heavy machinery is illegal.

'Chris is going to speak to the builders,

'but getting into the site isn't going to be that easy.

'Chris, though, isn't a man to give up easily.'

I need to go back to that other door.

It's locked.

'All the ways into the site are locked.'

They don't want to respond.

'Chris even tries to get in through a shop.'

No, that's OK. That's OK.

'No luck.'

No, that's OK, thank you.

There should be a porter here, but he's not on his desk.

'As the builders have already been served with a noise abatement notice,

'Chris has their number back at the office.

'As he heads off, he does one last drive by, and notices a security guard.'

Ah, there's someone there.

The porter is back.

'The guard lets Chris in.'

Hello, sir. Good afternoon. I work for Westminster Council noise team.

I need to speak to the builders on the fourth floor.

I need to speak to them now because it is so unbearable,

the residents cannot enjoy their premises.

So, if you can take me there, because they are not opening the door,

yes, and then I can stop them.

'In Westminster, noisy building work with heavy machinery,

'including DIY, is only allowed between 8 and 6 on a weekday,

'and between 8 and 1 on a Saturday.

'Anything outside these hours, or on a Sunday or bank holiday, is illegal.

'If officers witness any noise, they can hand out a notice

'telling the noisemaker to quieten down.

'If the notice is ignored, the penalty could be a day in court

'and a fine up to £5,000.

'We're not allowed to take our camera inside the building site,

'but Chris has gone up to speak to the builders,

'and he's wearing a microphone.'

It's serious now, OK.

Let me explain.

It's the court which is going to determine.

The company's going to be taken to court. Not just pay the fine.

Because you are disturbing people,

they can take also their own action, if you are not careful with it.

'These builders have already been served with a notice,

'but one of them says that his boss is willing to pay the fine.'

No, no, no, no, no. It's not the issue of paying the money,

it's the issue that they are breaking the law, now.

'The builder decides to start an angle grinder,

'to see if that's the noise the neighbours have been complaining about.'

It's noisy. No, no! Don't do it. No, no! Don't do it.

It's noisy inside somebody's flat. No, don't do that! Please.

Don't do that.

Can everything stop now? Everything stop.

'Chris has got the noise stopped,

'and back in the car he's happy with the result.'

I'm going to include everything in my witness statement

what has been going on.

How many times we have been called out,

and the problem that the contractor was locking himself inside the building

so that we don't have any contact with them.

Since they don't want to follow the law,

they might come back, because they're trying to finish

whatever they are doing without, you know,

extending the duration of works.

So let's hope they're not going to turn up tomorrow

because, as you have heard from the complainant,

he has suffered a lot for the past six weeks.

'Chris might have got a result here,

'but that's not the end of his weekend's work.

'Tomorrow, he'll be called back by the same complainant,

'who claims he's been woken by a different set of noisy workmen.'

You can't make any noise on a weekend.

It's a bank holiday weekend, I was having a lay in and now I'm awake.

'In Belfast, Jim and Steve tackle a raucous birthday bash.'

This clearly warrants a warning notice.

It's way too loud for the time of night. It's half two in the morning.

'And in York, one unlucky lady has called to complain

'about an incredibly noisy party in a neighbouring hotel.'

FAINT MUSIC

Every lyric is audible, all the tracks are identifiable.

LADY LAUGHS Sing along, couldn't you? It's like karaoke in your bedroom.

'For most noise squads across the UK,

'the largest number of complaints they receive

'are about loud music keeping people awake late at night.'

This music was turned on at full volume

and no matter how many times I asked them to stop it,

it was just happening over and over, and it was driving me insane, basically.

It's all stress, it leads to stress.

'Booming basses and banging tunes might be OK if you've got an invite,

'but if you live next door,

'and are trying to get some shut eye, you just want the volume turned down.'

It feels like you're living with someone else, I suppose,

or you don't have peace in your own home. So it's frustrating.

'Ian Gray's worked for the City of York Council's noise team for five years.'

What we'd like to do, if possible, is pop round just for a few minutes to have a quick listen,

so we can see ourselves whether it's too loud.

'Like his colleagues, he's well used to dealing with loud, late night music.'

OK, so it's outside of the marquee.

We'll come round for a very brief listen first,

and then we'll be able to go and sort out the noise at the hotel round the corner.

'It's just after 11.

'A call has come in, and it's about a hotel that Ian's colleagues have dealt with in the past.'

We had a complaint about loud music and a party in a marquee

going on in the back garden of a hotel.

The complainant's spoken to the people, but they just said,

"Oh, well, it's a private party, we can't do much about it."

Not the kind of response you'd really hope for.

So it seems that we've written to them before.

We're going to go round, have a listen.

Potentially, if we think the music's a nuisance, we have written to them recently,

then we could be looking at a noise abatement notice.

So we'll see what we find.

'The noise team here in York visited this hotel less than two weeks ago

'when another local resident called to complain

'that loud music was keeping them awake.'

Sounds like the Doobie Brothers.

I don't know what they're thinking of, to have this sort of music in this sort of area.

You can see it's a residential area. There's a school boarding house opposite.

And to have the doors open and everything else, it's quite bizarre.

I mean, look, you've got a brick wall here,

and another big brick layer, and it's still coming through.

'Ian's colleague, Fiona, went round to see the man in charge,

'with Nigel from the council's licensing department to explain

'the rules about late night loud music.

'They were assured that the hotel would do all it could

'to limit any disturbance to local residents from late night functions.'

We will do our bit, and we'll make sure that we respect the neighbours in the area, too.

'Sadly, it sounds as though the previous warnings haven't been heeded,

'and when he arrives on site, Ian goes to meet the lady who called to complain.'

Oh, hi, it's Ian Gray from the noise patrol.

If you do it like you'd have it today, with it propped open.

In the summer, I have the little prop because it's too humid.

'It's a warm summer's evening.

'He's going to monitor the sound with the window open

'because it would be reasonable to have them open on a night like this.

Have a quick listen for a few minutes.

'It doesn't take long before an old party favourite can be heard.

MUSIC: "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison.

'Now, three of the criteria noise officers use

'to determine whether or not a noise is a nuisance are...

'Can the bass be heard?

'Can any high frequency noise be heard?

'And can you tell what the lyrics are?

'Right, pop pickers, I'm sure most of you got the tune,

'but for those that didn't, it's Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison,

'and when it's being belted out at this level, it's more than a bit of a problem.'

Every lyric is audible, all the tracks are identifiable

LADY LAUGHS Sing along, couldn't you? It's like karaoke in your own bedroom.

So, we're getting on after half eleven, it's not really acceptable, is it?

We could actually hear the Best Man's speech before because it was so loud.

The perils of living near a hotel.

MUSIC PLAYS

Here we go again.

'The lady who complained is understandably fed up.'

It's just the matter of sleeping, really.

It affects you next day, affects your lifestyle,

because you can't get to sleep at 11:30, 12 o'clock at night,

and if you're up for work the next day, it is a bind,

because you can't get your normal seven or eight hours' sleep.

It's not a problem we've had for years and years, it's just recently,

since the hotel's been taken over.

They're not getting permission from other residents round the area.

We've lived here for five years,

so it's not been like this all the time I've lived here, cos I'd probably have moved by now.

Obviously, it doesn't entitle them to cause a nuisance.

'As the noise team have been called out to the hotel before,

'Ian could serve them with a noise abatement notice.

'This will give the owners of the hotel a legal obligation to quieten down.

'If they don't, and the team are called out again,

'they could be taken to court and fined.

'They could also have extra conditions put on their licence

'by the Council's licensing department.

'Ian's on his way to have a word, and he's going to be taking action.'

Obviously I've been listening to music inside somebody's bedroom.

It's getting on towards midnight,

and you can hear every single word of all the music that's playing,

you can identify all the tracks, and, clearly, at those kind of levels,

it'd be very difficult for somebody to sleep.

So in my opinion, it's sufficient to be what we would call a statutory nuisance.

As they've been warned before, they will be getting served with a noise abatement notice.

So, rather than be completely like the fun police, we shan't get them to finish immediately.

The complainant's happy if we say to them,

"OK, you can play another two or three tracks just to wind right down,

"then that has to be it."

Because at those levels, it's difficult for some people to sleep.

So we shall pay them a visit and see what kind of response we get.

'Ian heads to the hotel, and speaks to the person in charge.'

What we've heard tonight was certainly enough to be a statutory nuisance.

We got the complaint early on, and from about just after 11:20,

we've been able to hear every single word of every track in somebody's bedroom.

'Apparently, this is a private wedding celebration.

'Ian's told that the music doesn't sound as loud inside as it does out on the street,

'and the party is coming to an end.

'That's not going to stop him serving a notice, though.'

As we've warned you before, and we've heard a statutory nuisance tonight,

we've really got no option but to serve a noise abatement notice on you,

and obviously the company itself.

That basically prohibits you from causing any more statutory nuisance by playing loud music.

'The person in charge is calm and reasonable, and with the party over,

'Ian's happy with the result.'

Yeah, it seems that the party was about to wind down at midnight, anyway.

So we didn't have to change what happened on the night.

They've assured us that such things won't happen again.

We've told them that we're going to be serving a notice,

which we'll do at the start of next week.

So that'll obviously pretty much guarantee that it won't happen again.

Yeah, seemed to go OK.

'With the abatement notice served, hopefully the neighbours of this hotel

'can book themselves in for a bit of peace and quiet from now on.'

'In Belfast, noise enforcement officers Jim and Steve

'have silenced one noisy party, in a block of flats,

'that was keeping a neighbour awake.

'Now they're on their way to investigate another complaint about loud music.'

One of the occupants is complaining about loud music, loud party noise.

-Does she want us to call in with her, Steve?

-No.

No, so we're just going to park up in the centre of the little square here, and see what we can hear.

'As the person being disturbed doesn't want the noise team to visit,

'Jim and Steve will have to find the exact source of the noise for themselves.'

Can you see any numbers?

We'll get the car facing the right way and just hop out.

She's complaining about a property behind her, where the noise is coming from.

So it's either that one over there, or it's next door.

Not a lot of noise coming from this one here, so we'll take a drive round, then?

'It's a big estate, and the source of the noise isn't obvious.'

Might have been that one. All the windows are open, and he's clearing up bottles.

We'll go round and take a wee listen.

See if we can hear anything.

Looks like there's a party going on in one of the flats here behind us. But...

I wonder if this is the back of her property.

She said "behind us," so if this is the back of her property,

then that's the party she's talking about.

'The lads think they may have found the party that's been complained about,

'but Jim doesn't think there's much of a problem.'

Not really loud enough, though, Stevo.

No, just a few voices in the distance.

From the flat up on the corner, there.

And that's on the assumption that that's the back of her property.

Which it may not be.

Well, I think it is. Just from the narrow width.

Here.

So she'll be in one of those. This end corner.

She said the noise was out the back of her, so...

Right.

I can assume that's it.

'The lads don't think the noise levels here warrant any action.

'It's time to head off.'

You're looking for unreasonable noise, you know?

If the property's poorly insulated and you hear people talking,

there's nothing we can do about that.

You can't tell people not to talk.

'If you're being disturbed by anti-social nuisance noise,

'you don't have to reach for the ear plugs and hope it'll go away.

'If you don't want to speak to your neighbours directly,

'don't call the police.

'Your local council are on hand to deal with the problem.

'So pick up the phone and give them a call.

'Jim and Steve's next call is to another problem about an alleged noisy party.

'This time, it isn't loud music that's the problem, though,

'it's shouting that's keeping people awake.'

Obvious loud party sounds coming from the flat there up on the first floor of that property.

No music, just a lot of raised voices.

Clearly warrants a warning notice. It's way too loud for the time of the night.

It's 2:30 in the morning, 2:40.

We're at the bottom of the street, we can hear them.

They probably don't realise how loud they're being.

'Here in Belfast, if noise officers think that someone is making too much of a racket,

'they can serve them with a warning notice that gives them a legal obligation to pipe down.

'If they don't, they can be hit with a £100 fine.

'The party sounds pretty raucous, and Jim and Steve are cautious about approaching.'

One of the kids is trying to drop something out of a window on top of us.

Aye. That buzzer doesn't seem to be working.

'It's an anxious time for Jim and Steve as they're not sure

'who or what they'll be faced with when they confront the party goers.'

-Want me to get the torch?

-Get the torch, would you?

'Jim runs to get the torch so that they can shine it at the window

'and try and get the attention of the people in the flat.'

VOICES SHOUTING

'Suddenly, the doors open.'

How you doing, there?

We're from the City Council night time noise team.

We're here because of the noise coming from, as you can imagine,

-coming from up there. It's pretty loud at this time of night, and we received a complaint.

-Yeah?

So what we're needing you to do is close those windows and keep the voices and all down.

Because I'm going to serve a notice on you now,

but if we have to come back, the notice lasts until seven o'clock tomorrow morning.

If we have to come back, you're looking at a £100 fine.

Have you got any windows to the back of your property?

Anybody who's out on any fire escapes or anything, get them inside.

-Try to stop the noise getting out that way.

-Right.

Thanks very much. There's your notice.

It lasts till seven o'clock tomorrow morning, and if we get a complaint from somebody else,

you know, another resident...

-Someone complained, yeah?

-Somebody complained, yes.

So, first thing, get all the windows closed and get all the voices down.

There's somebody shouting out the window up there, you know?

We could be getting a call from more people complaining.

Guy, I'm sorry. It's my 20th birthday, you see. That's...

-Listen, nip upstairs now and close those windows.

-Windows closed, music off.

-I'm sorry about the problem.

-Good night, then.

LOUD VOICES

'Things are still a little rowdy as the lads walk away,

'but here in Belfast, noise makers have ten minutes to quieten things down

'before officers can come back and hand out a £100 fine.

'A quick chat, and a threat of a fine did the trick.

'There were no further complaints about this party,

'and no further action was necessary.'

'In Westminster, Chris Sibanda is working the weekend shift.

'Having silenced one set of builders who were carrying out noisy work

'outside of the permitted hours,

'he's been called back by the same complainant

'who claims a different set of builders are carrying out noisy work on a Sunday.

'And that's against the law.'

They're on a break now and they're not doing any noisy work,

so I need to witness the noisy work.

They started causing some noise around nine this morning,

so I need to witness that and deal with it.

I've also observed a van

which belongs to a contractor who I dealt with yesterday.

I stopped them.

They were working outside the working hours.

There is a notice which was served on them,

and I explained everything to them, that on Sundays we don't allow any noisy work.

So the complainant is going to ring me again

once they start to cause any noisy work.

So I might be dealing with two contractors on the same street.

'Chris decides to get out of the car to see if he can hear any noisy work taking place.'

I can't hear any noise, but I can see some workmen inside.

'If Chris hears them making any noise, he can serve a notice.

'Which means they have to quieten down

'or face the prospect of being taken to court and fined up to £5,000.

'As he waits to hear if any noisy work is being carried out,

'the complainant, Colin, calls.'

OK. Are they doing it?

OK. Right, we'll move in.

'Colin has called Chris in after speaking to the builders earlier today

'when he heard them making a noise.'

I had a word with them, and asked them what they were doing.

They said, "We've been booked to work today."

And I said, "Well, that's fine, but you can't make any noise on a weekend.

"It's a bank holiday weekend, I was having a lay in and now I'm awake.

"So, thanks very much(!)"

'Back outside, Chris confronts the builders.'

Hallo, there. Hallo, guv'nor. Hallo.

'The builders say that they're removing electrical panels,

'but that's not good enough for Chris.'

I need to find out whether you requested for permission

to work on Sunday, because we don't allow any noisy works on Sunday.

'Chris has also spotted one of the workmen wearing a mask.'

-I see your colleague is wearing some...

-A mask.

-A mask, yeah. What are you removing?

-Asbestos.

-Are you removing asbestos?

-Yeah.

-OK.

'As they're removing asbestos, Chris isn't going to stop the builders from working.'

They're in the middle of the job. They can't leave it as it is.

I am going to allow the works to be completed,

for them to remove all the asbestos and make this building safe.

And I'll speak to the complainant about what is going on.

'Chris heads inside to give Colin an update.'

-Colin, it's Chris again.

-Hiya.

-Hiya.

-How you doing?

-OK. Right.

-What's the situation for today?

-Do you want to come in?

-Do you mind?

-Of course.

-OK. Thank you.

-Right.

-So, what's the...?

-They are removing asbestos.

Yes, we saw the van outside, and it's all electricity plumbed in,

so we know they're allowed to be here.

My concern was, again, it's a Sunday, bank holiday weekend,

eight o'clock this morning they start working.

I mean, they're using the courtyard as a workplace.

So I popped down and spoke to them and said, "What are you doing today?"

And they said, "Oh well, we're building these units

"and then we're going to be taking asbestos out all day."

And I said, "But you can't make noise at the weekend."

And he said, "Oh, but nobody told us that."

They are going to finish between one and two..

Because they're just in the middle of the job

They've started to remove the panels of asbestos.

I cannot stop it because of health and safety.

They've said almost all the noisy work is done now.

And then they will be off site probably between one and two.

'The workmen Colin called to complain about today

'are working at the entrance to his block of flats.

'Yesterday, he complained about different builders working next door.

'They'd already been served with a notice,

'so they were breaking the law.

'Chris quietened them down, and told them they wouldn't be able to work today, as it's a Sunday.

'He's keen to find out if his message got through.'

Can I have a look from your bedroom whether they are on the fourth floor?

The lights are on.

And the windows are all closed.

I didn't hear anything or see anything this morning.

Right. You have got my number.

If they start the other building,

the other site,

give me a call and then I'll come back.

I'm working up to seven, so don't hesitate, just give me a call once they start.

-Great. Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

'As these builders had had a notice served on them,

'and Chris witnessed more noisy work yesterday,

'the council will be taking them to court

'where they could be facing a fine of up to £5,000.

'For now, though, his message seems to have got through, and all is quiet.'

I made it very, very clear to them yesterday that on Sundays

we don't allow any noisy works,

and they promised me that it is not going to happen,

they are not going to be on site on Sunday, but...

Living, you know, close to offices

and also close to busy roads,

like where the complainant is living, is going be affected with the noise one way or the other.

And if the offices are going to be refurbished, be renovated,

he is also going to be affected with the noise.

But we need to enforce the legislation

so that the contractors are not working outside the permitted hours.

'It's been a busy weekend for Chris, dealing with noisy builders,

'some of whom were breaking the law.

'But he'll soon be heading home for a well-earned rest

'and hopefully a bit of peace and quiet.'

'It's been a busy shift for the noise squad.'

I'm not as fit as I thought I was.

'They've dealt with noisy builders.'

No, no! Don't do it. No, no! Don't do it.

That's noisy?

It's noisy inside somebody's flat. No, don't do that!

'Rowdy revellers.'

It clearly warrants a warning notice.

It's way too loud. It's half two in the morning.

'And a hotel that, despite a warning,

'just wouldn't keep it down.'

As we've warned you before, and we've heard a statutory nuisance tonight,

we've really got no option but to serve a noise abatement notice

on you, and obviously the company itself.

That basically prohibits you from causing any more statutory nuisance by playing loud music.

'There's no let up in the battle against anti-social nuisance noise, though,

'and plenty more cases still to be dealt with by the Noise Squad.'

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