If you experience anti-social behaviour

Talk to the person causing the problem, this will often be a neighbour. A friendly, reasonable, face to face approach is more likely to be successful than putting a note through the door, which can seem unfriendly. Remember, people are often unaware that they or someone in their household are causing a nuisance.

Here are some helpful tips to help you prepare:

• think about what you are going to say before approaching the person;
• have a clear and simple message in mind; don’t stray from the main issue;
• be clear about what the problem is and how it affects you;
• try talking to a friend, local advice agency such as the Citizens Advice Bureau or your Neighbourhood Housing Officer.

Tips for when you speak to the person:

• try to stay calm and friendly. Being aggressive is not going to help;
• when explaining what the problem is, tell them how you feel and how it affects you;
• listen to your neighbour, they too may have a view, and better results can be achieved if people listen as well as talk – try not to interrupt when they are talking;
• avoid bringing up any incidents that may have happened in the past, especially if they are not relevant to the present dispute. Try to think how you want things to change for the future;
• if the person is aggressive or unreasonable – leave the discussion;
• if you think you are in danger or the person threatens you with violence, contact the Police and tell us;
• if the Police are involved, always ask them for a crime number – this is important if further investigation is necessary.

In an emergency call 999.

What if talking to my neighbour makes no difference?

There are a number of things to help resolve the problem. These are the steps you can take:

• keep an incident diary of what the problem is, when it happened, what happened, how long it lasted and how it affected you. Keeping a diary will help if evidence of the problem is needed at a later stage to take formal action;
• consider mediation;
• if the problem is noise, you can ask for advice from Environmental Services at your local council;
• seek advice from a solicitor – they may advise sending a letter to your neighbour, or applying for an injunction (a Court Order ordering your neighbour to behave properly);
• tell your Neighbourhood Housing Officer.

Incident diary forms

The incidents sheets are your own personal record of what you see or hear, you cannot write down something that other people (including your wife, husband or partner) have witnessed. They must complete their own incident record sheets.

Fill in the incident diary as soon as possible while the incident is still fresh in your mind. Do it on the same day if you can.

Download our Anti-social Behaviour Incident Diary.