Restaurant fined over £6,000 for noise offences

A noise Abatement Notice requires companies to reduce the level of noise that is being emitted from their premises, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.  

Officers from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Environmental Health team served the notice on the premises in February 2017 because of the excessive noise coming from the extract ventilation system used for the restaurant’s kitchen, which had given rise to several complaints from nearby residents.  

The notice gave the business three months to resolve the noise issue. Complaints continued and a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner from the Council witnessed two breaches of the notice in June and July 2017. On both occasions, the officer found the ventilation system to be omitting excessive noise, and was found to be intrusive and have a negative effect on neighbouring properties.  

The case was taken to Southend Magistrates’ Court by the Council and the restaurant was fined £2,500 per offence, equating to a total of a £5,000 fine. Magistrates also ordered the business to pay £1,245 in costs and a victim surcharge of £120.   Cllr Tony Cox, Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Regulatory Services, said: “I would like to thank our Environmental Health Officers for their diligence and professionalism in preparing this prosecution.

Everyone has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of their home and we will protect that right with appropriate action where required.  

“I would like to stress that, when we receive complaints about noise from businesses, we try our best to work with that business to resolve the issue. However, where a business consistently fails to take appropriate action after we have offered our best advice, we will take the issue to court”.