Statutory nuisance

A statutory nuisance is noise, smoke, smells, fumes, dust, artificial light, water, insects, animals, or other problems from an industrial, trade or business premises that are a nuisance or a risk to public health, as defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

It includes:

• the state of premises
• smoke emitted from premises
• fumes or gases emitted from premises
• dust, steam, smell, or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises
• an accumulation or deposit
• any water covering land or land covered with water
• animals
• any insects emanating from premises
• artificial light emitted from premises or a stationary object
• noise emitted from premises
• noise from a vehicle, machinery, or equipment in a road
• any other matter declared by any enactment to be a statutory nuisance.

You can make a complaint about something you think is a statutory nuisance. 
 

Before you make a statutory nuisance complaint, it would help if you can tell us:

• what type of nuisance it is (noise, emissions, light, pollution, animals etc.)
• where it is, such as the address of the building, premises, or site
• how long it has been an issue, when you first noticed it, or how often it happens
• the names of any people involved
• any other details or description of the issue, such as flooding, smells, or sounds.

You can also send us photos or videos if you have them.
 

If you think you’re affected by a statutory nuisance, contact us by: 

• email e-prot.es@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone 0300 300 0380

We’ll investigate your complaint to determine if it’s a statutory nuisance, as defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 on legislation.gov.uk. 

We’ll initially see if it can be resolved informally.

If we need to take formal action, we’ll issue an abatement notice to the person responsible. This is an official notice to stop, restrict, or fix the issue.

It’s an offence to not comply with an abatement notice, and this could result in the person responsible getting a fine or being reported to the Prosecutor Fiscal.

If they do not stop the nuisance within a specified timescale, we can issue them with a fine.

The fines are:

• £150 if it’s in a home, residential property, garden, yard, garage, or outhouse
• Up to £400 if it’s on a commercial, industrial, or other business premises.

If we must carry out works to stop the nuisance, the person responsible will have to pay the costs, as well as a fee of £176.25, or 12.5% of the costs if this is higher.

We’ll keep you updated with the progress of your complaint and let you know if we’re taking enforcement action to resolve the issue.