Should I report my neighbours to the police?

1234catlady

Sorry if this is in the wrong section

About 4 weeks ago, every Friday or Saturday night, our upstairs neighbours would play extremely loud music from about 4-6pm to the latest which was last night at 2am. You can feel and hear the vibrations, can be heard in every room in my flat, I can tell the lyrics of the songs that I don't even know because its so loud and then really bad thumping, can be heard through headphones, banging like the ceiling is going to cave in kind of level.

Last night was its worst. It was on from 6pm to 2am. For the most part of the night the music was an ok level and just the off bang noise here and there but just before midnight it was literally full blast. Just before 2am, I heard a hefty knock at their door and assumed it was the police but heard no talking and didn't hear their usual radio beeps. I then heard another door shut about 10 secs after the knock and assumed maybe it was their next door neighbour complaining.

I have reported them to the council's environmental health team and one of their representatives went to visit them and I thought it went well since last week the music was an ok level all night but yesterday was beyond a joke. I am scared to call the police on them after having bad experiences in the past with ex neighbours. In the past I've been threatened, eggs thrown at my door etc after complaining about another neighbour's music back in the day. I suffer badly with mental health and some physical problems. We live in a bad area and were advised by the council not to go to any neighbours doors to complain, call them or the police instead.

Again, I know you will think I am stupid for not phoning the police last night but I can't describe the fear living here gives me. So much has happened in this block over the years. My council environmental health dept is only open Mon-Fri 9-5 so other than the police there is no one at the weekends. Is it worth walking down to my local police station today and reporting it or will they not do anything since the incident is over and will they just tell me to call if its starts again?

Just looking for any advice. I'm at my wits end and my MH is getting worse and my self harming is back. I know this probably sounds like an easy fix but I am so scared of the outcome but I know it can't go on like this.

AdrianC

Is your flat rented?

Move.

1234catlady

AdrianC wrote: »

Is your flat rented?

Move.

Hi
I am council tenant. I am on the housing list but have had no offers yet. I have been given medical priority though.

Nick_C

The Police won't do anything. It's for the Council to enforce. You have my sympathy.

Do the Council offer an overnight service at the weekend?

G_M

The policecertainly won't do anything after the event. No point reporting to them next day.


They certainly used to attend in circumstances like this. Breach of the Peace. Whether they still have enough resources to prioritise this I've no idea.


Are the neighbours alo council tenants? If so speak to Housing dept as well as Env Health, as council tenants can be evcted for anti-social behaviour, but it won't be immediate. You'd need to show persistant problems and so the more police / Env Health call-outs, the more likely it would be.


Are there other neighbours? Group action always carries more weight.

1234catlady

Nick_C wrote: »

The Police won't do anything. It's for the Council to enforce. You have my sympathy.

Do the Council offer an overnight service at the weekend?

In terms of an out of hours number for this kind of thing? No. They just tell you to call the police and then the police just tell you to call the council when they open and it seems like they all just pass the buck if you know what I mean
Its a disgrace because I know many councils do have 24 hour services dedicated to this kind of thing.

1234catlady

G_M wrote: »

The policecertainly won't do anything after the event. No point reporting to them next day.


They certainly used to attend in circumstances like this. Breach of the Peace. Whether they still have enough resources to prioritise this I've no idea.


Are the neighbours alo council tenants? If so speak to Housing dept as well as Env Health, as council tenants can be evcted for anti-social behaviour, but it won't be immediate. You'd need to show persistant problems and so the more police / Env Health call-outs, the more likely it would be.


Are there other neighbours? Group action always carries more weight.

I assume they are council tenants. The vast majority of people in the block are.

They have neighbours directly next to them, I assume it was them who knocked on their door last night. I've never spoken to them, wouldn't know them from Adam but when I reported the upstairs neighbour two weeks ago, apparently no one else had complained which was a shock. Maybe that will change after last night.

Norman_Castle

1234catlady wrote: »

I assume they are council tenants. The vast majority of people in the block are.

They have neighbours directly next to them, I assume it was them who knocked on their door last night. I've never spoken to them, wouldn't know them from Adam but when I reported the upstairs neighbour two weeks ago, apparently no one else had complained which was a shock. Maybe that will change after last night.

Most people will do nothing hoping the problem will vanish or someone else will sort it out. Contact your landlord on the assumption they are also council tenants.

Keep a diary. Even if its not offered to anyone else it will remind you of the extent of the problem and what you have had to tolerate.
You could contact the police on 101 to ask if they will get involved although as you say, they are likely to direct you elsewhere.

sevenhills

1234catlady wrote: »

I suffer badly with mental health and some physical problems. We live in a bad area and were advised by the council not to go to any neighbours doors to complain, call them or the police instead.

These types of issues are a council matter.


You should ask yourself, only you know the area, can these noise issues be solved.
If not are you better to accept the noise rather than deal with any resulting conflict?

1234catlady

sevenhills wrote: »

These types of issues are a council matter.


You should ask yourself, only you know the area, can these noise issues be solved.
If not are you better to accept the noise rather than deal with any resulting conflict?

There is no way to accept this noise. I don't mind hearing a bit of music and all that at the weekend but this is keeping me awake, scaring my cats and there's no escape from it in any room in the flat. Can even be heard with earplugs and headphones and you can still feel the bass. Bass is probably the worst part.

I do understand what you mean though. I have been tolerant of so many things that have happened in this area because I have been too scared to report it out of fear of what might happen but at the same time, I can't be a pushover and I need to get out of here ASAP

1234catlady

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Most people will do nothing hoping the problem will vanish or someone else will sort it out. Contact your landlord on the assumption they are also council tenants.

Keep a diary. Even if its not offered to anyone else it will remind you of the extent of the problem and what you have had to tolerate.
You could contact the police on 101 to ask if they will get involved although as you say, they are likely to direct you elsewhere.

Thanks for your reply. I have kept notes and diaries for both the council and more private and personal ones about how all this is affecting me for my psychologist. My psychologist has written to the council before about how living here is affecting my health but it hasn't done in anything in helping me move. Saying that though, not the councils fault if there just aren't any available houses.

I plan to go into the council first thing tomorrow morning. Probably wont get me anywhere but I don't know what else to do. They probably will just say again that I should have called the police and they can't do much without a police report number since that is pretty much the only thing that counts as evidence to them.