Nightmare noise hotspots revealed as Doncaster tops new table

Thousands of complaints about nightmare noise in Doncaster have rocketed the town to the top of a new table.
Noisy neighbours make life a misery for some peopleNoisy neighbours make life a misery for some people
Noisy neighbours make life a misery for some people

The first Yorkshire-wide noise nuisance league table found there were 6,231 complaints in Doncaster in a year – equivalent to 20 complaints per 1,000 residents.

Barking dogs, domestic noise such as DIY work or loud televisions and blaring music were among the most common complaints.

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Just 45 of the 40,662 complaints made across Yorkshire ended up in court – with 23 prosecutions in Doncaster alone.

Rotherham was third in the table with 2,551 complaints, equivalent to just under 10 complaints per 1,000 people. Music, dogs and people being too loud prompted the most complaints.

In Sheffield, there were 4,292 complaints, equivalent to around eight complaints for every 1,000 residents, mostly about noisy people, dogs and cars.

Thomas Shelton of Cirrus Research, which gathered the data, said: “We work with many local authorities and housing associations which have to deal with the complaints daily about noise nuisance. They have a duty to investigate each allegation, see if there is any substance, gather evidence and then take action.

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“What one person thinks is acceptable could drive someone else crazy so noise enforcement teams have a difficult job at the best of times.”

Doncaster Council assistant director of environment Gill Gillies said the high number of complaints showed local people know how seriously the authority takes complaints

She added: “Prosecuting someone for noise nuisance is very difficult, but it is vital that residents do report this as our enforcement team specialises in gathering evidence to prosecute for noise nuisance.

“We adopt a zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour, including noise nuisance, reflected by the 23 cases we have taken to court.

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“Over half the nuisance noise cases taken to court in Yorkshire were in Doncaster, emphasising our dedication and commitment to enforcement and making Doncaster a nicer place to live.”

Mr Shelton added: “You would expect a large city such as Sheffield to have one of the highest number of complaints with over 4,200 but when you look at the size of its population, relatively speaking, it is quieter than Rotherham and York.”