Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions

Audible Intruder Alarms & Noise Nuisance

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) often receive complaints of noise associated with the persistent ringing of audible intruder alarms installed at domestic premises.

• Upon hearing an alarm, neighbours are likely to contact the police.  The Police will usually only visit if an illegal entry is being made at the time of the call.  Until recently, the Police did not keep a list of alarm key-holders.  However, you may now register your details with them at the following website www.hampshire.police.uk/Internet/advice/keyholder.htm (this is an external hyperlink).

• The Police will attempt to locate a key-holder but they are also likely to refer you to Fareham Borough Council's EHO who are on duty 24 hours a day.  Where the alarm continues to ring, the EHO will also try to locate a key-holder. 

• The EHO will visit the neighbour's home to assess the noise level associated with the alarm. They will also try to find out when the alarm owners are due to return. Should the EHO discover that the owners are likely to be away for more than a few hours, for example, overnight and the noise from the alarm is deemed to be a Statutory Noise Nuisance, formal action will be taken by the officer.

• Formal action will involve the service of a Noise Abatement Notice under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

• Subsequent to the service of this Notice, the officer will obtain a warrant for entry into the offending premises from a Magistrate. The officer will arrange for a locksmith and an alarm engineer to visit the property. Entry will then be made into the property and the alarm silenced. All reasonable precautions will be taken to ensure that the property is left secure. However, this does not necessarily mean that the alarm will be reset.

• Any costs incurred by the Council in abating the alarm noise will be recovered from the owner of the appliance. This can amount to several hundreds of pounds particularly on a Bank Holiday weekend.

• It is essential therefore for the local Environmental Health department to have access to the names, addresses and 24 hour contact numbers of at least two key-holders who may be contacted whilst the owner is away from the property.   The key-holders should be able to silence the alarm within 20 minutes of receiving the call from the EHO. In addition, any alarm should be fitted with an automatic cut out device which silences the alarm after a certain period of time, not exceeding twenty minutes. The cut-out device should be supplemented by a flashing light which continues to operate after the ringing ceases, indicating that the premises are still in alarm condition. Where a cut out device is fitted, the householder must inform their insurers.

• Whilst the Police had no active key-holder registration scheme, the Council kept their own.  However, we are now trying to encourage new alarm holders to pass their key holder details directly to the Police as indicated above.  All existing key holder details on the Council's system will be maintained for the foreseeable future and until the Police system is capable of receiving the information.  At this time existing alarm holders will be advised by letter from Fareham Borough Council to transfer their information to the Police.

In the short term however, you may also continue to register details with Fareham Borough Coucil using Audible Intruder Alarms (66 Kb) but this information will not be automatically transferred to the Police in the future.

Should you have any queries regarding noise from intruder alarms, please do not hesitate to contact us by regulatory@fareham.gov.uk or by telephone 01329 236100.

 

Back to index page