How to take your own legal action

You can use Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) to deal with a statutory nuisance. Magistrates’ courts can use it to force neighbours and neighbouring businesses to stop creating a nuisance, or to reduce the problem to an acceptable level.

The courts will balance your right to "quiet enjoyment" of your property with the right of the other person to use their premises in a normal way.

In the case of noise, it is unlikely that the courts would support someone seeking complete silence, as experiencing some noise is a part of everyday life, but you do not have to experience unreasonable levels.

When deciding what is unreasonable, the courts will look at the nature of the nuisance together with its frequency, how long it lasts, the times and days it happens and how it would affect the average person.  For example, a shift worker who needs to sleep during the day, or a home worker who needs complete silence to work, might be unlikely to be classified as average people when deciding upon noise nuisance.

Preparing for court proceedings

Before proceeding to court, you should take advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau and a solicitor, if you choose to consult one.

Make sure that you have collected enough evidence to support your complaint.

Keep written diary record sheets of the nuisance. Include in the diary record:

• when it happens, including the time and date
• the length of time it lasts
• that type of nuisance it is, for example, loud music, machinery and people shouting.
• why is it a nuisance, for example, because you are unable to sleep, your children are regularly woken, your windows must be kept closed

For more information on keeping diary record sheets, please see our advice on reporting a noise nuisance.

Witnesses

If another neighbour has witnessed or been bothered by the nuisance, ask them if they would be willing to give evidence at court. Any independent witnesses will be of benefit to your case.

If they are willing, ask them to keep diary record sheets. They will also need to make a written statement if the matter goes to court.

The court procedure

Proceedings under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are criminal matters, and your case must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

You must have enough evidence to support your claims and must follow the correct procedure.

Give fair warning

First, you must give the person responsible for the nuisance at least three days' notice in writing. This notice must say that you are going to bring proceedings in the magistrates' court if a specific action is not carried out. You must date this letter and keep a copy. If you post the letter you should send it recorded delivery.

Contacting the court

If there is no improvement after you have sent the letter of your intent to start proceedings, you should contact the clerk of the court. Tell them you want to make a complaint under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. They will usually make an appointment for you to discuss the matter further.

In Colchester, the magistrates’ court to contact is:

General contact number

What happens at court

At the court, you will see one of the clerks of the court who advises the magistrates. They will explain the procedure and will take the details of your complaint. They will use this information to decide whether they should issue a summons.

A summons is a document that tells the person who is causing the nuisance that you have complained to the court about the nuisance and that they must go to the Court at a time and day to `answer' the complaint. There is no fee for this.

You must give the clerk any schedule of the work, or change in behaviour, which you consider should be done to stop the nuisance. For noise, in many cases, this may be as simple as asking the other person not to play loud music at night, but it may be that with certain types of noise nuisance technical matters will arise, and you will need to have information from a specialist.

The summons will give the date, time and place of the hearing. You should continue to keep a record of the nuisance.

At the hearing, the person who has been summoned will be asked to plead `guilty' or `not guilty'.

‘Guilty’ plea

If the person pleads `guilty', it is likely that the matter will be dealt with then. You will be asked to present your case and give the court copies of any written evidence, for example, your diary of the nuisance and any letters that you might have written.

The magistrates will want you to tell them what you need to reduce or get rid of the nuisance and will then make an order that the other person does what you have asked, or to take some other reasonable action.

‘Not guilty’ plea

If the person pleads `not guilty' the case will be put back so that a trial can take place. You will be asked how many witnesses you will be calling, and the date of the trial will be read out in court.

Preparing your case

You will need to prepare your case for that hearing. Get written statements from any of your witnesses and write one about your own experience.

Put together any other evidence that you might have, for example, doctor's notes, and experts reports.

You must send a copy of everything that you are going to use at the trial to the other person (or their solicitor if they have one) as soon as possible.

If the magistrates are satisfied that there is a statutory nuisance, they will grant what is called an ‘abatement order'. This tells the person who is causing the nuisance that they must stop it from causing you trouble any longer. They can also be fined and ordered to pay costs.

Costs

If you are successful, the court might make an order that the other person should pay your costs.

You should keep a record of any costs that you or your witnesses have had to pay for example having to take a day off work unpaid, travel expenses and so on.

In other circumstances, magistrates can decide how to award costs and either you or the person causing the nuisance could pay all or part of both sides' costs according to the circumstances.

In some cases, you might be able to get legal aid to help your case. This will only be available if you employ a solicitor to act for you, and you are on a low income.

You can get further advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau by phoning 03444 111 444.