Anti-Social Behaviour

What anti-social behaviour is

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress. It can also include behaviour that causes nuisance or annoyance in or near someone’s home.

This might involve things like aggressive behaviour, ongoing harassment, noise problems, vandalism or issues linked to drugs, alcohol or vehicles. Environmental problems such as graffiti, fly-tipping or dog fouling can also be classed as anti-social behaviour where they affect others.

Report anti-social behaviour

If it is happening now

If the behaviour is happening now, or involves crime or danger, you should report it to Constabulary

The council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team cannot respond to incidents as they happen and does not provide an emergency service.

How we can help

The Anti-Social Behaviour Team looks into ongoing problems in the community and works with other services, including the police, housing providers and social care, to help resolve issues.

We focus on repeat behaviour rather than one-off incidents. To understand what is happening, we may ask you to provide details of incidents, complete diary sheets or take part in a questionnaire. This helps us gather evidence and decide what action we can take.

If you do not engage with the process, we may not be able to progress your case.

Who we help

We mainly support people living in private housing, including tenants, landlords and homeowners, as well as businesses and community organisations.

If you rent from a housing association, you should normally report anti-social behaviour to your landlord first. They have their own procedures and legal powers to deal with these issues.

You can get contact details for social landlords here.

In more complex cases, particularly where both private and social housing are involved, we may work alongside housing providers and other agencies.

Before you contact us

Gather as much detail as possible. This should cover what is happening, where it is happening, how long it has been going on, and when it usually occurs. Then when you contact us, include as much detail as possible.

It also helps to tell us if you have reported the issue to the police or another service, and provide any background information that may explain the situation.

Anonymous reports

You can report anti-social behaviour without giving your name. However, this can limit what we are able to do and may slow down the investigation, as we may not be able to check details with you.

If you want to stay completely anonymous, you can report concerns through Crimestoppers. In serious cases where there is a risk to someone’s safety, we will share information with the relevant services.

Noise nuisance

If your concern is mainly about noise, such as loud music, barking dogs or alarms, you should visit the noise nuisance page for more advice and how to report it.