| Legislation came into force this week that gives council environmental health officers the chance to act immediately on noise-related complaints.
Officials can turn up on people’s doorsteps at any hour to serve warning notices, and issue an on-the-spot fine of £100 if the problem isn’t resolved within 20 minutes.
Should that fine not be paid within a month, offenders could find themselves in court.
The legislation — contained within the labyrinthine Anti-Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act — has already been embraced by at least one Scottish authority.
However, the council in Dundee, which has pioneered the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders to tackle nuisance neighbours, said today that on-the-spot fines are not an immediate prospect for city noise-makers.
“This is not an option we are developing at this stage, although we will keep it under review,” said a spokesman.
“The reason we are not doing it at the moment is that we have an anti-social behaviour team in place and, working with Tayside Police, we feel that we have enough powers to address the issue of noisy neighbours.
“We have taken a lead in using Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in dealing with noisy neighbours.
The Scottish Executive has said on-the-spot fines will sit alongside existing measures such as warning notices and mediation. |
