Hundreds of people have complained to Bolton Council about nuisance noise, with residents annoyed about church bells, animals and fireworks.

According to a Freedom of Information request to the council, 243 complaints were recorded in 2018/19 .

Most complaints were about “people noise”, with barking dogs and loud music following close behind.

People noise includes footsteps, talking and shouting, and saw 48 separate complaints in the latest period. There were 47 complaints made about barking dogs, while loud music was behind 42 complaints.

Just one person thought that church bells were worth complaining about, with TVs or radios also behind one complaint.

Three people thought that fireworks were being too noisy at unreasonable times.

Other animals, such as birds, were the cause of six complaints, and five people thought their neighbours were being too loud doing DIY.

Cllr Adele Warren, responsible for Environmental services, said: “As councillors, sometimes we deal with neighbourly issues and it can have quite a profound effect on people.

“Our lifestyles are so different now and if you have some one on nights sleeping through the day then any noise can be really disruptive.

“I understand that when you have residents that are in this situation it can be a nightmare for them and it can be quite difficult to get to the bottom of it.

“Obviously if there are noise complaints the council has a process regarding whether it’s an ongoing issue.

“If, for example, we have a dog that’s barking occasionally we’d look to see if it’s interrupting your daily life and have an investigation into the issue.”

Complaints are down more than 60 per cent on those received in 2016/17, a record low.

A total of 661 complaints were made in that period, dropping to 359 in 2017/18.

Cllr Warren added: “These figures look very positive on the surface.

“I’m ever the optimist so I’d like to think that the drop has been contributed to by people being more neighbourly and mindful of those around them."

Although complaints have been dropping, abatement notices issued by the council have not, with 15 orders handed out in the last period.

Six notices to stop loud music being played, two to prevent excessive people noise, and another against a barking dog were handed out by officers.

Two referrals to the noise contact centre, two orders to stop business noise, and two notices against noise from machinery were also made.