Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Noise pollution

Our new 'Out of Hours Noise Complaint Service' operates each Friday and Saturday evening between 10pm and 3am the following morning.

We also have the Enforcement Officers available every night between 6pm and midnight and during the day at weekends to deal with any noise complaints.

You can contact the Out of Hours Noise Complaint Service on the number given opposite.

Noise can be defined as unwanted sound and can cause annoyance, irritation and disturbed sleep.

The Environmental Health Unit have certain legal powers to deal with noise problems and can deal with noise complaints from a variety of activities including:

• Domestic sources e.g. barking dogs, amplified music, DIY noise
• Industrial sources e.g. noisy fans, generators
• Commercial sources e.g. entertainment noise
• Construction Sites e.g. noise from building /demolition works
• Certain noise in streets from vehicles, machinery and equipment

For further advice, leaflets on general noise and noise from barking dogs click on the external links found at the bottom left of this page. The frequently asked questions explain how you can make a complaint about a noise problem.

Prevention is better than cure

As well as dealing with complaints of noise we also do a lot of preventative work to stop noise occurring, these include:

• Assessment of the impact of noise of new developments under the Development Control [Planning] system by imposing strict noise conditions on developers.
• Assessment of the noise impact of certain industrial processes.
• Prior Consent for Construction/Demolition works where hours of operation and noise conditions can be imposed to minimise the impact from this activity.
• Educational campaigns e.g. Noise Action Week which took place between 26 - 30 April 2010
• This campaign fits in with the 'Respect' and 'Citizenship' campaigns used in schools.
• Licensing to control noise from certain licensed premises

Web Links

Stockton Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

• DEFRA - general noise guidance
• DEFRA - guidance on controlling barking dogs