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Environmental Issues

What is ‘statutory nuisance’?

We can investigate complaints about issues that are a ‘statutory nuisance’ under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

To count as a statutory nuisance, the issue must:

  • unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of your home or other premises or
  • injure health or be likely to injure health.

Examples of statutory nuisance include:

  • noise from premises, vehicles, equipment or machinery in the street
  • smoke from residential, business and industrial premises (including bonfires)
  • smells from industry, trade or business premises (eg sewage treatment works, factories and restaurants)
  • artificial light from premises, such as domestic and commercial security lights and floodlit football pitches
  • insect infestations from industrial, trade or business premises
  • accumulation or deposits on premises, such as piles of rotting rubbish.
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