In the mast, most nuisance actions were civil cases taken by individuals or groups. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 now means that local authorities can take action where they believe that a nuisance exists, or is likely to in the future. This action normally takes the form of an 'abatement notice', which is a legal document specifying what must be done to stop the problem or prevent it from occurring.

Alternatively, private individuals can make a complaint to the magistrates court and ask them to deal with the problem or take procedings in the County or High Court. There have been many sucessful instances where this has occured and some people prefer to have direct control over the conduct of the case, rather than relying on a local authority.

Making a complaint to the magistrates is normally the quickest and cheapest method if the local authority are not willing or slow to issue an abatement notice. It is however not as simple as just telephoning and telling the court that there is a problem - there is a formal procedure to go through which involves serving a notice on the person or company causing the problem and then waiting for 3 days (in the case of a noise problem) or 21 days (for other nuisances) before making the formal complaint so that the Court can issue a summons which will require everyone to attend a hearing on a specified day.

As this is a legal procedure, evidence must be collated to demonstrate that the problem exists. This can take the form of photographs, measurements or witness statements as appropriate. One of the advantages is that there is normally no award of costs, so provided that you have conducted yourself in a reasonable manner, you would nt normally be expected to pay the other side's costs if you lose.

It is also possible for individuals, businesses or groups to take a civil action, but the procedure can be similarly difficult if you have no experience of this.

If the court is satisfied that there is a problem that warrants action, they will make an order as appropriate. If the order is not complied with, then the matter will go back to court with the danger that the person who has not complied could be found in contempt of court, which is a very serious matter.