A COUNCIL did not deal properly with complaints about noisy neighbours, leaving a couple in distress.
An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) found Wychavon District Council did not deal properly with reports of anti-social behaviour.
Complainants named only as Mr and Mrs X first reported music noise coming from a neighbour in 2022 and recorded events in a nuisance diary log.
Council officers visited the neighbour in November 2022 and issued a letter warning that they would issue a community protection notice (CPN).
CPNs require anti-social behaviour (ASB) to stop and put the onus on the recipient to take reasonable steps to stop it happening again. Not complying is an offence and may result in a fine or fixed penalty notice.
In May 2023, Mr and Mrs X reported that the anti-social noise was still continuing. The council issued a CPN to the neighbour and told Mr and Mrs X it would also be issuing a fixed penalty notice.
A few months later, the council rescinded the CPN it had issued previously but didn’t tell Mr and Mrs X – and never issued a penalty notice.
“Mr and Mrs X were left in the mistaken belief that the council were taking enforcement action against reported ASB, when it was not,” said the ombudsman.
“This raised their expectations and left them uncertain why action was not being taken.
“On the balance of probabilities, the council’s failure to deal properly with ASB reported to it, and not to inform Mr and Mrs X that it had rescinded the CPN, meant Mr and Mrs X subsequently suffered avoidable distress because they experienced ASB which could have otherwise been the subject of enforcement action to limit or prevent it.”
The LGO said the council should pay Mr and Mrs X a “remedy payment” of £500 for the distress caused.
Wychavon District Council said it introduced a new case management system in January 2025 and now tracks reports of anti-social behaviour end-to-end.
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Meesha Patel, Wychavon’s director of legal and governance, said: “We take all reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and will try to support those affected within the powers we have, or by working with partners.
“In this case we fully accept we fell short of our usual high level of customer service.
“The ombudsman’s findings are consistent with our own investigation and offer of remedy. Changes have been made as a result of this case so we can ensure this situation does not happen again.”