Hello,

Our house backs onto an electrical dealer, they have a couple of vehicles, which must carry expensive products.

They have alarms on these, and on the buildings.

There is a constant beep, every 12 seconds (the noise your fire alam makes when its about to die). This is clearly heard in our garden, and in the back bedroom with the window open.

It’s a bit like chinese water torture.

The car alarm also makes a similar noise, but this is a bit louder and 3 beeps every 6 seconds.

We’ve approched the owner and he said its a secuirty feature of the alarm and can’t be turned off.

Now….. am i being petty? Or should I get the council to step in? As the hot weather is with us, the back window is open in the bedroom, and a beep beep beep beep when you’re trying to sleep isn’t ideal.

Plus when just in the garden its quite annoying after a while.

Anyone know the law on this kind of stuff?

Thanks STW-ers.

Butty.

Now….. am i being petty?

No. Entirely justified. Keep talking to him nicely.

contact your local council – they all have a noise nuisance officer (well pre-cuts anyway).

I also believe that companies have a duty to make sure that their activities do not unduly disturb their negighbours at night so you’ve got grounds there.

I wouldn’t let that lie I’m afraid. However who was there first – him or you?

Contact the council

Is there a visible manufacturer / supplier name on the building alarm? If there is – give ’em a call & ask them

Doesn’t matter who was there first, it falls under noise regs and shouldn’t be happening. I asked about a local bottling plant when looking to buy a property as we had visited at night few times and their fork lifts had beepers and drove around using their horn when entering and leaving the building. On reply the council said their should be no noise from them after a certain time (forgot when, think 11pm) and that it was unacceptable overnight.

They were there first, but it’s been over a year now…. and the alarm noise is 24/7, every 12 seconds, and the car alarm on and off at times – depends where he parks the van.

The chap didnt seem to care at all when we spoke to him.

Not petty at all. If you have approached the owner and the dispute is unresolved, get in touch with your local council – environmental health/noise pollution control – the law is on your side. Explain the situation without ranting and they will send a polite letter to the owner telling them a complaint has been received and that they are obliged to do something about it.

Next stage is to keep a diary of the noise. If nothing happens it will go to court and the diary will be used as evidence.

Do not give up, see it through. The law is on your side.

Contact the council. Ours (Richmond, at the time) was very good in vaguely similar circumstances (beeping every 60 seconds, but from a residential proprty being used as a business base).

Without stealing the OPs thread but in a similar vain – we have an allotment which is next to a small skip company who seem to be expanding into a top soil, gravel type business.

Now, we also have a baby and take the baby round on sunny days and she sleeps in her pram etc but recently he is constantly setting fires – obviously to skip rubbish i imagine.

Ive noticed he locks the gates when the fires are on and I’ve seen him come out lock gates and then climb back over into his yard. He is setting fires pretty much every day including Sundays.

The smoke is quite thick and comes into our garden so we cant do anything and we go home stinking of smoke. Also we dont want the baby in smoke obviously.

Can people in industry just randomly burn rubbish as and when they want?

From what I believe, no they can’t. It’s why you often see farmers joyously celebrating Guy Fawkes Night – they can pretend they are having a celebratory bonfire when, in fact, they are just burning their cows/tyres/wives/Polish Immigrant Workers/industrial toxic waste.

Not sure about business fires, but contact your local council’s Environment, Recycling and Waste department.

They will (likely) be in charge of what is (in our county) called Industrial Pollution Control. From our local council’s website:

The Local Authority controls emissions from certain industrial and commercial processes. An installation may need either a “Part A2” Permit (for emissions to air, land and water) or a “Part B” Permit (for emissions to air only).

You can thus make sure he is adhering strictly to the regulations and has (if necessary) the correct permits.

Just FWLIW, Business (such as farm) bonfires (may) need permits. Private bonfires are a different matter, here the basic rule is:

A single bonfire is unlikely to be a nuisance even though it may cause annoyance to one or more neighbours. In order to be a nuisance, there has to be evidence about the frequency of the bonfires, their duration, the locality and how the bonfire directly affects the complainant’s enjoyment of their land.

“Can people in industry just randomly burn rubbish as and when they want?”

No, they can’t and he fact that this guy is keen to keep his site locked up when doing it only highlights the fact that what he is doing is illegal and he obviously knows it. Don’t bother with the council on this one, just go straight to the Environment Agency. He is most likely not fully licenced and runs the risk of a fine at least or a prison sentence if he is found to be doing anything else on the site (which lets face it he probably is).

Ohhhh this boils my piss. I hope it works out for you. All advice above is good.
I used to live in a flat just off the city centre, 200 metres from my window is the edge of the retail zone, once they were doing up a big retail unit for Primark.

The noise day and night was phenomenal and despite many complaints I went over at midnight one night and videoed them using a jack hammer and mixing concrete etc. Sent to council and threatened papers. All sorted next night.

Next stage is to keep a diary of the noise

That would take you mind off things!

19 April 2011 09:00:00 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:00:12 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:00:24 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:00:36 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:00:48 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:01:00 Beep from alarm
19 April 2011 09:01:12 Beep from alarm………….

If he’s already said tough sh*t I’d be lobbing bricks over at 3am 👿

However, my sensisble side says report to council, you DO have a valid case.

Contacted the council and they will call me back tomorrow, hopefully.

Given the guy’s reaction when we spoke to him I doubt he’ll give two sh1ts about a letter.

Seriously, why do you need to have a beeping alarm to alert people that you have an alarm?!

I doubt he’ll give two sh1ts about a letter.

he’ll have to – they have quite wide powers to stop him creating a noise nuisance.

Ever sympathy with you on this. I used to live next door to a bloke who had a similar alarm on his van. His driveway was almost under my bedroom window- the beep every 30 seconds or so used to drive me insane.
Some people couldn’t hear it, but it kept me awake even with the windows shut. Got nowhere with trying to ask him to do something about the noise, didn’t want to take it further as, in every other respect, he was a great neighbour. Was on the verge of torching the van when, luckily, he sold it.

Now….. am i being petty?

Not imo.

he said its a secuirty feature of the alarm and can’t be turned off.

I doubt that. I’m sure he likes the fact that it bleeps, as he probably feels that it’s an added feature which reduces the chance of theft from him – and that he quite frankly couldn’t give a toss about you.

Not a wise move for a business to piss off the neighbours imo – I hope that if you ever spot someone looking suspicious after hours around his gaff you don’t bother phoning the police.

The geezer is an idiot ……. keeping the local residents as much as possible on your side, is a sensible policy for any business – they can act as your eyes and ears when you’re not around.

That would annoy me…I’d see it through with authorities out of principle.

If they don’t do anything, buy yourself one of these…

When ever he’s in his yard…sit in your garden up against the fence and press it every 10 seconds. Then when he leans over the fence, just apologise and tell him its a feature of your thumb. When he looks at you strangely or replies…give him the bird and explain that it’s a feature of your finger.

Carbon report mr skip to the Environment Agency. He is commiting an Offence under the Environmental Protection Act and will also be contravening his license.

Carbon report mr skip to the Environment Agency. He is commiting an Offence under the Environmental Protection Act and will also be contravening his license.

What he said.

Although you could ask him to stop first…but if he’s willing to break the law in the first place he’s likely to just say no.

And then if he gets a visit from the authorities afterwards he knows who shopped him…

As to the fire thing – next time he locks the gates with a fire going and climbs back over, dial 999 and get the fire brigade round, because obviously something has caught fire whilst unattended…………

McHamish – Member
When ever he’s in his yard…sit in your garden up against the fence and press it every 10 seconds. Then when he leans over the fence, just apologise and tell him its a feature of your thumb. When he looks at you strangely or replies…give him the bird and explain that it’s a feature of your finger.

😆

As to the fire thing – next time he locks the gates with a fire going and climbs back over, dial 999 and get the fire brigade round, because obviously something has caught fire whilst unattended…………

Or you could go round the night before you think he’s going to light a fire and put a little trail of some flamable substance from the skip to his building…then watch the hilarious consequences (assuming no one dies in the resulting inferno).

Or hide gas canisters in it…also resulting in hilarious consequences (assuming he isn’t horribly mutilated in the resulting blast).

lol@McHamish

and mr skip if defo commiting an offence, its even dodgy ground if your just having a garden fire.. but been a business he cant burn it..
if u report him he’l need to come up with evidence to show how he disposed of the plastics/wood or he’l be in for a big fine…!
just call the fire brigade next time and say kids are messing about and they’ll soon be out, police too no doubt…

an **** me them alarms would wind me up, your defo not been petty..
iv even heard of cases where houses have called the athorities on neighbouring farms wher they said the cows/pigs kept them awake, and the farmer had to take steps to sound proof the buildings..

That’s a good point about farm noises, a friend of mine lived in the sticks and the farm next door had a cow shed nearby. One of the neighbours complained to the council and it became a straw shed instead.

Don’t go with the gas cylinders! I have had clients burned out of their premises by an exploding gas cylinder going through their roof! The business neighbour was un-licensed and un-insured for what he was doing when his premises caught fire.

I should clarify that I wasn’t being serious…please don’t
blow him up on my advice.

i kno of two cases with the noisy animals… the other went the farmers way cos the house was actually the old farm house and the farmer has lots of coin..