Episode 5 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.

At times you almost feel like you are going mad.

A living nightmare. It's like, I don't want to be there any more.

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 a nightmare.

But the fightback is on!

We're getting complaints about the noise.

Across the country, dedicated enforcement teams are getting

to grips with nuisance noise, 24/7.

If it continues, we might have to come back and serve a notice.

In the last couple of months,

it's getting a lot worse which is when Westminster intervenes.

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

If we come back, you get a £100 fine

so you need to keep it down even after we go away, right?

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

Raising the roof today on Noise Squad. The team pay a visit

to an excessively loud family do.

That is very loud.

I've a right to celebrate. It's cost me a lot of money.

A constant hum is driving one local resident to distraction.

-You're laying on the corridor?

-Yes, it was terrible. It was a shame.

And officers get police back-up

when they call on a party in a tower block.

That's a written warning. Keep it turned down.

The historic City of York.

And just like every other local authority in the UK,

it has a rich history of noise complaints.

Last year, the City Council received 2,500 calls about nuisance noise.

And the majority of these were about noisy parties in people's homes

and commercial premises.

LOUD MUSIC BLARES

It's Saturday night, and for noise officer Anthony Dean,

it's the busiest shift of the week.

We're on till three tomorrow morning. Lucky us!

He and his colleague Michael are in for a very busy night.

We have 11 new messages. This is just crazy tonight.

They're on their way to visit someone who's complained about a noisy pub.

It's a pub well known to the Noise Squad.

I have witnessed loud music previously,

and when it happened we then spoke to the landlord of the pub

and he tried to get it sorted out.

Did turn it down, shut a few doors,

and made sure that the volume was reduced a bit, so sometimes

it may be a case of reminding him to do that for this event tonight.

When they arrive at the complainant Martin's home,

he claims that he's been putting up with the noise for hours.

-It's been pretty bad all day, has it?

-Since around one o'clock.

I've had a dreadful week as it is

cos there's been building work across there and erratic drilling

and then I've got that there.

It's about as much as you can take in a week.

What time did you say the music stopped?

It's quietened down now, but they're probably just changing over.

I've had to shut my windows because it's got really loud.

And on a summer's day like this, I shouldn't have to shut them, really.

What type of noise have you been experiencing problems with?

It started off...it's been heavy, I'd say heavy metal sort of music.

All right, OK.

And, I mean, for a residential area heavy metal is not really suitable.

Martin claims that this isn't the first time he's had to suffer

noisy neighbours.

I moved from another property because of the noise,

and to actually start off here again, it's making me feel that

I don't seem to have much right as a human being, really.

There's nothing to hear now,

but Michael and Anthony have decided to stick around

for a bit longer to see if the noise comes back on.

If the music starts again or if it gets rowdy again,

we'll make an assessment from here. We'll do that.

Obviously, if after a few minutes, or 10 minutes or so

it's not come back on, we'll have to go.

We've got some other jobs to go to.

Anthony fields some more calls whilst they wait to see

if the music starts up again.

It doesn't, but at least that means Martin's got some peace and quiet.

If it does start again, you've got a number to give us a bell.

If it happens any other day of the week, like I said,

our service does operate then as well, so give us a ring.

Is that all right? Hopefully that'll be it. OK?

-Right, thank you.

-Cheers.

For Anthony and Michael, the calls haven't stopped coming in.

And a noisy party disturbing the entire street is their priority.

I could actually hear loud music on the phone, which is unusual.

We'll have a listen in the complainant's property

and see if it's a nuisance.

It's after 11 o'clock.

When they arrive, they can hear the noise coming down the street.

I can hear loud music in the street.

We'll have a listen, and if it's a noise nuisance

then we'll have a word with them, ask them to turn it down.

If they don't, we may come back with the police.

That is very loud.

After assessing the noise from inside a complainant's home,

Anthony and Michael decide they're going to take action.

Councils across the UK deal with nuisance noise

in slightly different ways.

Here in York, the Noise Squad can hand out an abatement notice

straightaway, but in most cases they first serve a verbal

or written warning giving perpetrators a chance

to stop the noise.

If the noise continues, then they'll serve a legal abatement notice.

It that is breached they could be prosecuted,

get a criminal record and a fine of up to five grand.

At the party, Anthony needs to find out who is the responsible homeowner.

Right. Is the owner of the property here? Is it yourself?

Would you mind getting them for us?

Just from the Council, from the noise patrol.

Hiya, how you doing? How are you, you all right?

Are you the occupier of this property? Hiya.

We've had some complaints about the noise.

-And it is excessively loud.

-It's going to be calming down now.

The house owner explains she's having a family do.

Me son-in-law's 50. It's the biggest party I've ever had.

-I've never had this music before.

-Yeah, well, what I'm saying is...

Some of the party guests get involved.

I...I will get them to turn it down!

But turning the music down isn't good enough for Anthony.

-If I can try and do my job. Is that all right?

-Yeah, of course it is!

-We've had some complaints.

-That it's a bit noisy.

It's not a bit noisy, it's excessively noisy.

If you let me continue. The noise we've heard is sufficiently loud

to be called a statutory noise nuisance.

What I'm going to say now is, I want you to turn it off

and I want the music to be inside.

It's half past 11 at night, and it's unacceptable.

Anthony wants the outside music turned off completely,

but he's not getting much co-operation.

Turn the music off outside, because...

We're not going to turn it off, but we're going to turn it down.

To be honest, I want it turned off outside, because...

DRUNKEN CHATTER

It's nearly midnight when most people are trying to get some sleep.

Anthony serves a written warning to the householder to stop the noise.

If she doesn't, she'll be served with an abatement notice,

and ignoring that could lead to prosecution.

I'm just giving you this, just so that you know we visited, OK?

There's no sign of the music outside being turned off though.

I want it off, you want to turn it down. You do what you like.

But if it continues, and causes a noise nuisance,

then we might have to come back and serve a notice. We don't want...

-..it's going on twice and it's going on thrice!

-It's all right.

What decibel would you like it at?

I want it turned off externally and taken inside.

-Completely off?

-Yeah.

The house owner says to Michael this is a one-off.

This is the first party I've had. There'll be no more...

She explains the music's not as loud as before.

I still think that's too loud. Absolutely.

One of the partygoers asks who's complained.

Why have you come here tonight?

-I'm not at liberty to say...

-Has somebody called you?

We have had a number of complaints.

-A number? One or two, or...

-More than two complaints.

Eventually, the music gets turned off.

My son-in-law's having his 50th party.

I've a right to celebrate. It's cost me a lot of money.

It's only once. There'll be no more for a year.

She offers to change the music, though.

I'll chill out to Barry Manilow, how's that?

Well, let's hope Barry is played at a much quieter volume,

for the sake of the neighbours and her guests!

Written warning served, the officers leave the scene,

but Anthony's not convinced his job is done.

See? It's still going on. We'll give them ten minutes.

They've turned it down and off. It's kind of coming on and off.

I suspect we'll have more complaints this evening, so...we'll be back!

And Anthony's right. We'll be back with him as he returns to try

and quieten down these rowdy revellers.

I can hear The Wonder of You being sung very loudly.

And as the shift continues, he and Michael are called

to yet another party that's got seriously out of hand.

There's a few of you guys here!

Well, when there's officers needing assistance, you get everybody.

It's a busy Thursday morning in central London.

The sun is shining, the streets are buzzing,

and it's business as usual for the Westminster Noise Squad.

As a Proactive Officer, part of Ian Mifsud's job is to

monitor complaints over a period of time.

The Reactive deal with, basically, live cases which are ongoing

on the spot, and so they try and attend on-site as soon as possible,

whereas Proactive, we deal with problematic and long-running cases

which might need a bit more attention, contacting more people

and maybe sitting in for a bit longer to try and source the noise.

One of Ian's cases has been puzzling him for months.

He's trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious humming sound.

It's a phenomenon the Noise Squad have come across before,

and in this case, it's causing an older lady sleepless nights.

Going to a lady called Ms Vyetuz,

and she's lived here for about nine years or so.

The problem is, in the last three years she's been experiencing

low frequency noise and vibration.

And that is causing her significant distress.

It's said to be losing her balance and she has claimed other things

like parts of her body vibrating at the same time.

So we're just going to have a word with her and see what she...

erm, see how she is, cos it's been a couple of weeks or so

that I haven't gone to see her.

And also just to let her know where we are in the investigation.

Not all nuisance noise is necessarily loud.

It can be a constant or repetitive sound that stands out

from the usual background noise. And it can drive you to distraction.

Ian heads off to catch up with the complainant.

And obviously the electricity box was another possibility, but...

Ah, because that electricity box is...

Ian has continued to visit this lady and show his support.

Even though he has not heard the elusive noise or felt vibrations,

he is determined to help her overcome this torment.

-You haven't slept in your bed for how long?

-Two weeks.

-Two weeks.

-And every night here?

-Only when sitting here.

-Only here.

Because here is milder...

But last night was quite terrible. It was...bloody noise.

You felt it through the whole house.

-Yes! It's terrible! It was a shame!

-Yeah.

I've been round numerous times, even at times when

she has been able to hear it, and also done my best to hear it,

but I haven't been able to.

I've stuck my ear against the wall, haven't been able to hear it.

Put my hand against the wall, no vibration felt, but

she's adamant that this is ongoing, and going on for hours at a time.

The lady has taken strength from her faith to help her through

these difficult times.

I pray quite a lot. I ask someone else,

-"Give me help!" Because it cannot carry on like that.

-I understand.

-I'm in good health.

-Numerous people in the country

have this problem as well, so, you know, it's not just yourself.

Ms Vyetuz has also gone to the doctors,

to try and figure out if it's going on with herself,

cos she genuinely wants to figure out if that's the issue.

The doctors come back and say no, she's all right, you know,

psychologically and health wise. There's no issues there.

You said before, last time I was here, that it

-seemed to come from this wall as well.

-Yes.

The noise and vibrations from the walls get so bad that she often

has to move her bed in the middle of the night just to get some peace.

It may feel like it, but this sufferer is not alone.

For decades, people around the world have been

plagued by an elusive buzzing sound known as the Hum.

Some have blamed gas pipes or power lines.

Others think the cause could be over-sensitive hearing.

For those affected, the noise is painful, vivid and constant.

This dull drone can make people's lives a misery,

and unfortunately, a solution is often difficult to find.

We have done some monitoring that might have picked up something,

but it's nothing solid. Something slightly unusual was there,

but it's not just a matter of picking up noise,

it's trying to source it and figure out where it's coming from,

and we haven't been able to do that because it's so low frequency.

And unusual.

Now, like I've explained before,

it's quite difficult to pinpoint where it's coming from because

we can't hear it, and also be able to action it because of that reason.

However, remember when we did some monitoring here with the equipment?

We've got those results and sent them to the Housing Association,

and we've said, "Look, this is what we've found, can you deal with it?"

Whatever the cause, the truth is out there,

and Ian is determined to find this lady some help.

Back at the office,

Ian thinks he may have found an organisation that can help.

He is researching the low frequency noise phenomenon

known as the Hum, which has so far eluded him.

This is the first one that I've come across.

I don't think the team has had too many others.

But I did contact the Low Frequency Noise Support Group and

they mentioned that it is a bit of a national phenomenon.

And they call it a phenomenon cos it is

mysterious as well as to the cause of where it is coming from.

I've received mixed messages, even from the support group.

They have said it can be linked with tinnitus.

Other times they mention that it's to do with, you know, power lines.

It can be a range of sources, and also remedy also depends on

the person as well, and they've recommended various techniques

on their website, such as yoga, relaxation DVDs.

We are here to help the residents of Westminster. We do what we can,

given our resources, to be able to help as much as possible,

and I have a bit of time to be able to do that with Ms Vyetuz.

I've gone a few times to try and resolve it and liaise with

the Housing Association to see if they can resolve it.

The mystery remains...

but Ian has found support which may provide some comfort.

The mysterious hum may have eluded Ian,

but he'll have no trouble hearing the Big Noise in Little China.

Air conditioning units are creating a cacophony of sound,

and instead of keeping local residents cool,

their temperatures are rising due to this constant blast of noise.

What happens is the noise kind of ricochets around this courtyard

and it all culminates to create a nuisance to these guys over here.

Will Ian be able to conquer this Great Wall of Sound?

In York, it's a case of Saturday night fever

as complaints about loud music turn up the heat for

noise officer Anthony Dean and his colleague Michael.

Oh, strewth! Got another two messages.

They've already served a written warning to a party holder

whose music was blaring out into the street.

But before they've had a chance to head off to investigate

another complaint, the party music is back on...

..and it's as loud as ever!

We've had a further complaint so we're still round the corner.

I can hear The Wonder of You being sung very loudly in the background.

I suspect it's going to be another nuisance and we may well have

to serve notice. We'll visit the complainant again,

and make an assessment in their property.

An abatement notice is more serious than a written warning.

It's a legal document telling perpetrators to stop the noise.

If they don't, they'll have to pay the consequences in court

and could end up with a criminal record.

Anthony and Michael have called the police for back-up

to serve the notice.

But once they and the police arrive at the property, it's all gone quiet.

Sorry about that. They've turned it off, but it's been excessively loud.

We've had about seven or eight different complaints in the area.

The lads have witnessed nuisance noise.

But rather than serving the notice now,

they've decided it would be better to do it another day.

They've just turned it off, so rather than antagonise

the situation and go and serve a notice now, what we will do is

serve a notice early part of next week on the owner, and basically

that means if they have any further parties in the next year or so

that cause a problem, we may well be able to take action against them.

By ignoring the written warning,

these partygoers have made the situation far worse for themselves.

The Noise Squad will be back,

to serve the house owner with a noise abatement notice.

Now the only thing to stand between her and a court summons,

is another noisy party.

Anthony and Michael might have brought peace and quiet to this street,

but there are still plenty more calls for them to attend to.

We're going to a complaint, I think it's another party complaint.

The guy's phoned three times this evening, so it's still going on.

So we're going to go there and have a listen now.

The police are here, as well!

It's after one in the morning when the lads arrive.

I'm just going to wander down.

As they get out of the car, it's clear a lot has been going on.

Gracious! There's a few of you guys here!

Well, when there's officers needing assistance you get everybody.

-One man and his dog, eh?

-Yeah, afraid so.

A big party seems to have overspilled into the street,

so the police have actually been involved.

We'll have a word with the occupants of the property where the party was,

to tell them from our perspective what's going on. The police are

dealing with the other angle. We'll have a look.

This is quite a big one, isn't it?

There are plenty of flashing blue lights,

and whilst it's up to the police to handle anti-social

or unruly behaviour, it's Anthony and Michael's job,

as noise abatement officers, to enforce the laws on nuisance noise.

But it seems the occupier of the house isn't able to talk to them.

-So who owns this property?

-He's in the back of the van.

Right. Is he going to be taken down to the cells?

-That's correct, yeah.

-OK.

The occupier and two others have been arrested,

and are in the back of the police van.

We've arrested the main offenders and the party's over, so...

Right, in which case we will update our complainant

and thank you very much for your time.

With the party over and the situation calmer,

this property is beginning to look familiar to Anthony.

I've had complaints about this address previously.

The occupier of the house might not have been available for a chat,

but Anthony is still going to take action.

We'll write to the owner of the property to warn him

about the consequences of causing a noise nuisance in the future.

He'll make sure this noise-maker gets a written warning.

Yeah, we've got one more message. One more complaint to deal with.

There's nothing more for Anthony and Michael to do at this address,

and with a long list of calls still to deal with, they jump in the car.

Oh, good evening, it's Anthony Dean here from the council again, hiya.

I haven't had a call, so the noise is still happening, is that right?

If you're being disturbed by noisy neighbours,

or any other type of nuisance noise, you don't have to put up with it.

Your local council are on hand to deal with it.

So pick up the phone and give them a call.

It's now nearly 1:30 in the morning and it's on to the next complaint.

It's this one here.

We've got another complaint.

This one is about disco noise coming from a pub.

It's been going on according to the complainant for the last

two hours, so we'll finally be able to get there and listen to it.

The complainant seems fairly reasonable, a bit frustrated

it's still going on, so we'll go and have a listen.

It's a busy night for the lads They can barely catch their breath.

Adrenaline keeps you going.

Hopefully, having a bit of a sleep during the day gives you

a chance to recuperate slightly. But, yeah, it's mainly adrenaline

and I enjoy doing the job, and when you enjoy doing the job,

even though it's tiring, it keeps you going because it's exciting.

When they arrive, the sound of early '80s pop music is blasting out.

There they are.

Music might be the food of love,

but it's not so lovable when it's played on...

..and on...

..spilling into the streets for hours into the night.

This is full on, but it's not on!

First stop is a visit to Daniel who rang in to complain,

and I don't blame him!

We'll make the assessment from a noise nuisance point of view,

then go round and see what's going on, in terms of what doors are open

and licence type issues, and then go and have a word with them.

Daniel and his family have been trying to get to sleep.

The officers head upstairs to assess how loud the noise is there.

This is our bedroom here. I've got the children upstairs.

-My wife's moved upstairs because of the noise.

-OK.

Anthony and Michael spend some time listening from the bedroom.

Is it that time already?

I apologise so much we couldn't get to you earlier.

We've had, I think, about 32 or 33 phone calls tonight.

It's after 1:30 in the morning.

Daniel's patience has been sorely tested, and no wonder.

I don't know what they're thinking of,

to have this sort of music in this sort of area.

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.

And if it were to be a loud evening do,

I would expect the manager to come round and say, "Look, there's

a do going on," that sort of thing, but not a sight or sound of them.

Anthony and Michael assess the noise.

Being able to make out the lyrics,

the thump of the bass or higher frequency sounds are all

indicators that a nuisance noise is being caused.

Sounds like the Doobie Brothers.

Without love, where would we be now?

I'm guessing Daniel and his family aren't feeling too much love

towards the hotel where the noise is coming from right now.

Anthony and Michael are on the case, though,

and this music is ticking all the boxes for nuisance noise.

..creating some higher frequencies. The saxophone singing, "Oo-ooh!"

It's kind of perverse. Everyone's got that beat constantly going on...

I'm happy it's a noise nuisance.

They decide to take action and pay the hotel a visit.

We'll have a word with them and say this is what's going on.

We'll have a little wander round.

Outside, the lads have another listen to the noise.

You've got a brick wall here, and it's still coming through.

LOUD MUSIC BLARING

This racket is unacceptable.

We'll be with Anthony and Michael when they go to visit the hotel.

The question is, will they make themselves heard?

In Westminster, noise from restaurant extractor fans is

unbearable for nearby residents.

The noise kind of ricochets around this courtyard and it all

kind of culminates to create a nuisance to these guys over here.

And in Belfast a raucous party in a tower block ends up

with a visit from the Noise Squad, and the police.

That's a written warning. Keep it turned down.

Right across the country, other people's noise is making life hell

for millions of people.

People like you and me.

This music was turned on at full volume.

I kept asking them to stop it, but it was just

happening over and over and over. Driving me insane, basically.

It can upset your whole living routine, you know.

Even to the point where you can't go to work because you're up all night.

Like most big cities in the UK, the biggest noise problem

here in Belfast comes from loud music and late night parties.

Everyone likes a get-together, but when it's disturbing the neighbours,

that's when people call the Noise Squad.

We're getting complaints from your neighbours.

The music is far too loud, right?

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

The Belfast Noise Team nightshift nearly always have at least

one rowdy bash to quieten down. And tonight is no exception.

Tim and Philip have over 13 years' experience

on the Noise Squad between them.

Much of the job of quietening parties

is the gentle art of negotiation.

It can be very challenging at times

when you're on the doorstep with someone

who's very annoyed with you

for coming to them to tell them to be quiet.

So it does take skill and mediation. You always have to be on your toes.

You always have to be alert, and that can be very draining at times.

But it can be very rewarding.

It's after midnight on a Sunday and the noise team have had

a complaint from a neighbour being kept awake by some banging tunes.

Tonight's party is in a block of flats the noise team know well.

They're going to serve a notice,

and to make sure things don't get out of hand,

they've asked the police for assistance.

We've had a complaint from one of the tower blocks, so we've

written our notice up. We're just waiting on the police to call out.

These flats would be...sort of,

fairly regular, there would be disturbances in them.

Tim and Philip meet up with the Police officers in the car park.

OK, let's go.

As they go in to serve the notice, Tim briefs the officers.

It was so loud when we were sitting out there waiting for you.

We could hear it in the car.

So it might be off now, but...

If the noise-maker carries on making noise

after the notice has been served, they're liable to a £100 fine.

Will we wait?

These situations can escalate if the noise-makers are drunk

or decide to be difficult.

Got somebody's attention, anyway.

Finally, someone comes to the door.

I'm with the Council's noise service.

-Can you get me someone who lives there?

-That's me.

Tim lays down the law to the noisy resident.

We've had a complaint from the neighbours about the noise.

I need you to keep the music turned down.

It's still on, so it is...

If we come back you'll get a £100 fine,

so keep it down even after we go away, right?

That's a written warning.

You don't have to turn it off, but keep it down, all right?

No shouting off the balcony either, all right?

I haven't been shouting over the balcony.

Well, that's OK. If you haven't, that's no problem.

Cheers, mate, thank you.

This noise-maker is quick to take Tim's advice on board. Job done.

That's it, aye?

Yeah, no problem. Thanks very much for coming out, guys.

If only all parties were as easy to quieten.

It's really hard to judge when you get loud music like that.

All I was getting was there might be people in there

that were difficult to approach on our own.

We do have previous incidents in those flats where

you tend to take the police anyway, so, erm...

It went well and, you know, he seemed reasonable enough, and,

hopefully he's going to keep it turned down. Job done.

Thankfully this noise-maker was happy to pipe down.

And with no more complaints about the party that night,

the team didn't have to take any further action.

Westminster Council serves the heart of London.

The resident population now stands at a quarter of a million but

up to one million people set foot in Westminster on any given day.

Earlier, Proactive Noise Squad Officer, Ian Mifsud,

was investigating an elusive buzzing sound known as the Hum.

It was upsetting a local resident.

-You felt it throughout the whole house.

-Terrible...!

Ian's trying to find out where the mysterious hum is coming from.

But there's no mystery when it comes to the cacophony of sound

coming from some noisy blighters in Little China.

Ian is now in Chinatown, investigating ongoing

complaints from local residents about the incessant drones

coming from the air conditioning units of nearby restaurants.

This is a property just on the side of Chinatown,

actually within the Chinatown area as you can see here.

And there's some residents that live in some bedsits

just on the side of this courtyard and the unusual thing about

this courtyard is there's about twenty premises that surround it.

Now, most of those commercial premises have either

air conditioning units, extraction fans

or refrigeration compressors all giving on to the courtyard.

And they make a lot of noise.

Residential flats back on to this area with dozens of restaurants

and their air conditioning units.

The combined blast of noise is overwhelming for the neighbours.

This is the courtyard,

so obviously there's a lot going on here, particularly regarding

the air conditioning units here, and there's extraction fans up there.

There's also a lift shaft over here, and compressor units at the top.

And all this block here is where the residents live.

So there's about six bedsits on this side over here.

What happens is the noise kind of ricochets around this courtyard

and it all kind of culminates to create a nuisance to these guys over here.

I have to speak with the residents. I believe for the last year,

it's becoming progressively worse.

So it was horrible a while ago, but in the last couple of months

it's been getting a lot worse which is when Westminster intervened.

And because it's the Chinatown area,

it's actually almost a 24 hour commercial area,

so restaurants stay open till three, four, five in the morning,

and then another one will start up, so it's a 24 hour issue.

The air conditioning may be keeping the restaurants cool,

but some hot-headed residents have barricaded their windows

in an attempt to keep the horrendous drone out.

As part of St James Wood Proactive Office, it was my job to

make initial contact with that person.

I arranged to have a meeting in his house and, obviously,

he'd been really distressed about it but didn't know who to contact.

He had done his best to pay for double glazing,

Also, do all this insulation,

temporary insulation against the windows which is blocking him

from any sunlight or making it very difficult for him

to open any windows. He'd also made a partition

within his house to try and create some type of insulation again

from the noise, so he can live throughout the day

and throughout the night in a relatively comfortable situation.

But I've been there and it's still not acceptable.

It's still way too loud for it to be kept at this level.

Ian goes to check on the noisiest culprit.

This bad boy is blasting its unwelcome symphony

to the infuriated neighbours.

This is the most problematic one. This is the one that's loudest.

The reason we know that is that we've done some investigations,

having one of my colleagues in the resident's flat as well as me

down the restaurant asking them to switch it off and switch it on.

The difference is significant enough for us to take action on that.

These residents' complaints to the Noise Squad have led Ian to confront

the manager of the restaurant with the unacceptable noise levels.

He has visited this restaurant before

and is trying to find a resolution that will satisfy everyone.

And obviously...and your extraction is the loudest, as well,

so we need to try and resolve your extraction fan as soon as possible.

So what's happened basically is, the person who I was in contact with

last time has actually retired, and now this is a new manager.

So I've just updated him on the situation.

He was semi-aware of the issues that were going on,

but basically, my recommendation to him

was rather than get in an engineer straightaway,

I don't want them to do the works. The noise problem will still remain,

cos that will cost a lot of money and we'll still have an issue,

so Westminster will still be on their back.

And so my recommendation was to contact an acoustic consultant

preferably who are certified from the Institute of Acoustics.

I've given him the website and there's a whole list of

consultants who they can contract to be able to do some tests and do some

proper monitoring about how they can resolve the issue once and for all.

Noise like this just isn't acceptable in residential areas.

Since Ian's visit, the restaurant has carried out some improvements.

And if there are further complaints, the Noise Squad will be back.

In York, noise officer Anthony Dean, and his colleague Michael

are dealing with loud music coming from a hotel function.

LOUD MUSIC BLARES

After witnessing the noise from inside and outside

the complainant's property,

Anthony and Michael have heard enough. This noise is a nuisance.

It's time for the hotel to face the music.

They appear to have a kind of disco in there.

The side doors are actually open,

which I suspect they probably shouldn't be on their licence.

So I want to speak to their Designated Premises Supervisor,

who's responsible for the licence, which is issued under

the Licensing Act to make sure that they comply

with certain aspects, particularly relating to public nuisance.

Every licensed premises in York gets its licence from the council.

On it are strict rules about noise control.

If these rules are breached and officers witness nuisance noise,

extra conditions can be added.

In extreme cases a business could even

lose its licence.

Once inside, Anthony speaks to the man in charge who tells him

they're hosting a triplet's 40th birthday party.

He's very apologetic and the music is turned off straightaway.

He said, "I don't know who's responsible,"

whether it was the staff that opened the doors,

or whether it was one of the guests.

We're going to write to him, and also contact

our licensing department, so he knows it's going to be followed up.

He's apologised, and the music's off.

He was quite apologetic, so it's a good outcome, really.

And off we go.

It's been a busy Saturday night for the lads,

and it's time to head back to the office.

I actually just have five minutes to chill out and not do anything.

Back at Noise Squad headquarters, Anthony reflects on a busy shift.

Ridiculously busy. We left about half past nine

on Saturday night and we've got back about quarter to three.

I haven't been back to the office since.

Constant phone calls, we had eleven messages waiting.

Yeah, it's been crazy really.

I'm looking forward to a day off on Monday, and back to work on Tuesday!

Ah, it's good to have a drink.

Anthony, that's a very well deserved cuppa.

This shift might be over,

but it's not the end of the story for two of the cases.

The following week, Anthony's colleague Fiona returned

to the hotel with Nigel from the council's licensing department.

They met up with the man Anthony spoke to at the hotel,

to go over the conditions of the licence,

and make sure there will be no repeat of that noisy birthday party.

I'll tell you why the door would be open, though. Even now,

-it is warm in here, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

I mean, on the 25th again, it was a lovely evening.

We do have aircon, the aircon can be on. We can keep the door closed.

Tony's promised to check the noise levels more closely in future.

And he says he'll make sure the hotel is a good neighbour.

We will do our bit,

and we'll make sure that we respect the neighbours in the area.

His case complies with both the premises licence conditions

and the noise legislation, so hopefully we won't need to come again.

That's all great, or is it?

Less than two weeks after Fiona's visit, there were further complaints

about nuisance noise from this hotel and a notice has been served.

We'll be hearing more about that later in the series.

But what about the 50th birthday party

Anthony and Michael had to deal with?

Well, an abatement notice was drawn up

and a few days later, Michael's on his way to serve it.

Sometimes that's like a final warning to people.

It doesn't become an offence until after that's been served

and if we can serve that and it stops it in the future,

then that could prevent anything else from going out of hand.

When he arrives, there's no-one home.

Hello, it's Michael from the council.

But that doesn't stop him serving the notice.

I've served the notice to reinforce what we did the other night.

We spoke to them, we said keep it down.

Now they realise that we'll take action if we do witness a breach.

Hopefully, it will be quiet from now on.

The onus is upon her now. The notice has been served,

she has to keep the noise down, it's her responsibility.

With an abatement notice now served, if officers witness any more

nuisance noise coming from this house,

this lady faces the possibility of having any noisy possessions

confiscated, a day in the magistrates court and a hefty fine.

And that wouldn't be a cause for celebration.

It's been a busy shift for the Noise Squad.

Oh, strewth. We've got another two messages.

They've dealt with raucous family get-togethers...

DRUNKEN CHATTER

..rowdy parties...

If we come back, you get a £100 fine

so keep it down after we go away, right?

That's a written warning.

You don't have to turn it off. Keep it down, all right?

..and the mother of all extractor fans.

What happens is the noise kind of ricochets around this courtyard

and it all kind of culminates

to create a nuisance to these guys over here.

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

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

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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