Reporting anti-social behaviour or noise

When to contact the police

Criminal activity shouldn’t be reported as anti-social behaviour. You must report criminal activity to the police. This includes:

• abuse, intimidation or harassment
• drug use and drug dealing
• misuse of airguns
• inappropriate use of fireworks
• aggressive begging
• vandalism

If there is an emergency or someone is at immediate risk, call 999. The non-emergency number is 101 or you can report criminal behaviour online.

What is anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) covers a wide range of unacceptable activity that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to an individual from another household or to the community, or harm to the environment. In some instances, it can leave victims feeling helpless, desperate and with a lower quality of life.

Examples of anti-social behaviour include:

• graffiti and flyposting (sticking advertising posters on walls and other public property)
• litter, including drug-related equipment
• fly-tipping (dumping rubbish on the street, pavements or green areas)
• nuisance, rowdy or inconsiderate neighbours
• persistent dog barking or uncontrolled animals
• some types of noise nuisance

It is important to report anti-social behaviour. Reports help us understand the problem, build up evidence and take action.

What isn't anti-social behaviour

In addition to criminal activity which you should report to the police, we may not be able to investigate the following:

• children playing in the street or communal areas
• young people gathering socially
• being unable to park outside your own home
• DIY and off-road car repairs
• a clash of lifestyles including cultural differences or different working patterns
• a one-off party or event
• general living noise

Report anti-social behaviour or noise

If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour or noise, you could try to talk to the person responsible. They may not realise that their actions are affecting you. Only do this if you feel safe and comfortable. If you are not able to resolve the problem by talking to the person, you can report it to us.

If you live in an estate owned by a Housing Association, or Registered Social Landlord, you should contact them to report anti-social behaviour. If it is an emergency or criminal behaviour, you should call the police.

Report an incident

You can also contact us by phone on 020 7527 7272. 

What we will do

• All reported anti-social behaviour and noise is recorded on our system and given a reference number. In all cases, we try to get back to you within two working days to give you general advice or guidance.
• We may refer you to another organisation or person who can help you with your issue, like a housing provider or the police.
• Where further investigation is needed, we will allocate to a case officer, who will deal with your case and work with you to develop an action plan to tackle the anti-social behaviour or noise.

In many cases we will use solutions that stop the behaviour happening again and support the people involved in the reported activities.

If the anti-social behaviour continues and it is persistent and significant, we may take some of the following actions: 

• getting a court order, which bans the person responsible from doing certain things 
• working with the police to prosecute the person responsible or to give them a fine
• if the person is a council tenant, issue them with a tenancy warning.

Legally, we need evidence to support these actions, but we will do all that we can to ensure everyone can live peacefully and safely in our borough. 

Anti-social behaviour review (previously called Community Trigger) 

You can request an anti-social behaviour review if:

• you have reported three separate ASB incidents in the last six months
• and you submit the review request within a month of the last incident because you think that no action has been taken since reporting it.

Find out how to request a review of an anti-social behaviour report.

Organisations that provide help and support if you have experienced anti-social behaviour

If you need some independent advice or support, see the 'related information' section at the bottom of the page.