LOUD music, barking dogs and family arguments are what most of us think of as unwanted noise.

And that would be right - noise from people’s homes makes up by far the largest proportion - 43 per cent - of complaints to Bradford Council’s environmental health team, from a total of 2350.

In the year to April 30 2015, there were 1013 complaints about noise from domestic premises, including loud television sets, music, people running up and down stairs and children playing noisily. In the same period barking dogs attracted 521 complaints, 22 per cent of the total.

“These sorts of complaints make up the bulk of complaints every year,” says environmental health officer Neil Winchcombe, “When we receive calls we ask the complainant to complete a noise diary to see if a pattern emerges and it is not just a one-off.

“Problems lie where people are persistent offenders, when people are making noise on a regular basis.”

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For action to be taken, noise has to be classed as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It has to be seen to affect the complainant’s life, such as impacting upon their sleep. Before any order is issued, letters are sent out detailing the allegations and possible penalties and alerting them to the possible use of recording equipment by the Council.

If an abatement notice has been served and broken, the team can apply to court for a warrant to enter a property with police officers and seize the noise-making equipment. “We have done five seizures since January,” says Neil.

After receiving a notice, failure to address the noise can lead to prosecution and fines of up to £20,000 for commercial premises and up to £5,000 for residential properties.

Tackling noise in communities and improving quality of life is the focus of this year’s Noise Action Week which runs until Monday.

Officers from the Council’s environmental health department work hard to achieve this aim, and are this week raising awareness of their services, and of ways in which people can address the noise they make.

Says environmental health officer Jeanette Howarth: 'Playing loud music can cause distress and lack of sleep for your neighbour. Householders should consider this and try their best to prevent it from happening.”.

While still high, the number of complaints about noise from domestic premises has fallen by 161, from 1174 in 2013/14 and reports about dog barking have also dropped by 118, from 639 in the previous year.

The reasons for this are unclear but an increased awareness of how to complain, and in particular use of the Council’s website, has played a part.

“Social media also plays a part, with people voicing their concerns on forums and to other groups,” says Neil.

Once a complaint is received, the complainant is sent a dairy to complete over a two-week period. They are asked to record the times of the nuisance, how long it goes on for and the effect it has upon them.

Other sources of noise are beginning to cause distress for a growing number of people, in particular the keeping of cockerels.

Calls about cockerels, particularly from inner city areas have soared from 38 in 2009/10 to 147 in 2014/15. Their early wake up calls are causing stress to residents trying to get a good night’s sleep.

“They are being kept in small back yards and the noise carries some distance,” says Neil. “We ask the complainant to keep a diary to show us when the bird is crowing, at what time of day and for how long.”

The Council has produced information available on its website, offering advice on how cockerels can be kept so that crowing can be kept to a minimum. This includes keeping them as far away from other properties as possible, housing them in a dark coop at night, and not releasing them until a reasonable hour and installing a shelf in the coop so that the bird can walk ay normal height but not stretch out to crow.

More than one bird can create more noise. “Sometimes there are a number of birds trying to compete with each other, which can affect whole neighbourhoods,” says Jeanette.

As well as guidance on Council information boards, the authority is distributing literature to locations within communities, to pass on the advice.

Cockerels are not the only birds that have come to the attention of the team. Noise has been reported from quails - the males crow - and even peacocks, with their high-pitched shrieks.

* To contact the Council environmental health team ring (01274) 431000 or visit Bradford.gov.uk.