With many licensed premises opening until late at night, problems of rowdy behaviour by night time revellers can be considerable for people who live in the surrounding area.
If a local pub or club becomes a nuisance to those living nearby, what steps can be taken?
Clearly, one option is to complain to the local authority and to keep complaining if things do not improve. Most licensing committees will put the licence holder under considerable pressure to bring about improvements if complaints continue to be made. Making recordings of the noise or other anti-social behaviour being complained of can strengthen one’s case.
However, before going down the ‘official route’, here are some things you can ask the licensee to do which might help you reach a solution which will preserve goodwill all round. You can request that they:
 put up signs in the car park and near the exits reminding customers
that it is a residential area and requesting that noise be kept to a
minimum;
give out sweets or lollipops to customers leaving late at night – the
idea being that they are too busy chewing to make noise. This
novel approach has proved effective in many instances;
control the volume of any music they play;
leave doors shut where possible, so that sound is controlled;
ask taxi drivers to turn off their engines while they wait and to
refrain from sounding their horns on arrival;
instruct staff and security people to intervene when customers are
rowdy; and
advise households in the neighbourhood in advance when a late
licence or function likely to cause extra noise is scheduled. If all else fails, pressure can be exerted on local environmental health officers. They have the power to bring prosecutions against pubs which create excessive noise between 11pm and 7am, which can lead to fines of up to £5,000. If necessary, a noise abatement notice can be issued. Failure to prevent noise nuisance after the issue of a noise abatement notice can lead to a fine of up to £20,000 and/or six months’ imprisonment for the licensee.
Two other potential weapons are also available. The council can apply for an anti-social behaviour order, if class A drugs are dealt or used on the premises or if there is serious nuisance or disorder. If granted, this can lead to the closure of the pub for up to three months. The local authority or environmental health officers can also close a pub for up to 24 hours on the grounds of noise nuisance, as can the police on the grounds of public nuisance. The long stop is the council’s licensing committee, which will no doubt look less favourably on renewal applications for ‘problem pubs’.
If your neighbourhood suffers from excessive night time noise or rowdiness, we can advise you as to your best course of action. Contact us on 020 7790 2000 (Whitechapel) or 020 7712 1779 (Canary Wharf/Docklands) for further information. |
