Anti-social behaviour

What is anti-social behaviour? 

Anti-social behaviour is any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person's quality of life. 

This definition is very broad and can include:

• harassment/intimidation
• nuisance behaviour
• rowdy behaviour
• vandalism/criminal damage
• noise nuisance
• animal-related problems
• littering/fly posting
• vehicle-related nuisance and inappropriate vehicle use
• prostitution/kerb-crawling/inappropriate sexual behaviour
• street drinking
• drug and substance misuse
• aggressive begging
• nuisance caused by the persistent burning of waste.

The leaflet below (available in different languages) provides general advice on the following:

• being a good neighbour
• what is anti-social behaviour?
• what is a crime?
• crime prevention advice
• contact details.

General advice leaflet - English (pdf 217kb)

General advice leaflet - Bulgarian (pdf 329kb)

General advice leaflet - Latvian (pdf 370kb)

General advice leaflet - Lithuanian (pdf 871kb)

General advice leaflet - Polish (pdf 360kb)

General advice leaflet - Portuguese (pdf 300kb)

General advice leaflet - Russian (pdf 393kb)

Who are we, and what do we do?

Anti-social behaviour can have a serious impact on individuals and whole communities. It reduces feelings of safety and will not be tolerated.

We have a team of officers dedicated to support and protect you and also take action against those who choose to make your life a misery. We encourage you to use our website which provides guidance on what you can do if you are suffering from anti-social behaviour or know others whose quality of life is being affected and are too frightened to do anything about it themselves.

The anti-social behaviour team consists of seven officers and at least one of them works in your area. The team structure and the areas they cover can be viewed on the anti-social behaviour team boundary map:

Anti-social Behaviour Team Boundary Map (pdf 2.8mb)

The assistant safe communities officer receives all new enquiries to the team and if you can’t find the information you need on our website.

Contact details are available from 'Where can I get further information and support?'

What tools do we use to deal with anti-social behaviour in the East Riding?

The government has introduced many new powers in the last few years and the council and its partners work with new and existing legislation to ensure anti-social behaviour (ASB) is tackled as effectively as possible.

We firmly believe in early intervention in the East Riding rather than resorting to legal action. We have used early intervention tools successfully for a number of years and this will continue.

The council's Anti-social Behaviour Policy sets out how we use tools and powers and support victims of anti-social behaviour:

Anti-social behaviour policy (pdf 586kb)

Report anti-social behaviour 

Read more for further information:

What anti-social behaviour enquiries do the council deal with?

If your enquiry relates to barking dogs, further information is available on the dog control page.

If your enquiry relates to domestic noise, such as noisy parties or loud music, further information is available on the noise pollution page.

Repairing vehicles on a regular basis can be disturbing for a neighbour. People are allowed to repair their own vehicles and repairs to other cars are generally tolerated. However repairing vehicles on a regular basis, especially other peoples’ vehicles may not be acceptable.

These can be complex to resolve as we will need to determine whether your neighbour is running a business from home and obtain specific details of their activity. If your neighbour is repairing vehicles on a regular basis, further information is available on the noise pollution page. 

People are not allowed to park their vehicle in front of your driveway. Unless parking restrictions are in place (e.g. double yellow lines), vehicles can be parked anywhere else on a public highway. If a vehicle is obstructing your driveway or parking on double yellow lines, further information is available on the car parking enforcement page.

If groups of people are hanging around outside your neighbour’s property, unless they are behaving in an anti-social manner (e.g. swearing or shouting), there is nothing that can be done to stop them.

If they are shouting or swearing, you should contact Humberside Police immediately on 101.

If they are doing this on a regular basis, you should contact the council’s anti-social behaviour team by completing the following form, giving details of all occasions when the groups have been shouting or swearing, including who was responsible if you know who they are.

Report anti-social behaviour

If your enquiry relates to high hedges or untidy hedgerows, further information is available on the trees and hedges page.

If your enquiry relates to untidy gardens can attract vermin if rubbish is not removed. We will be able to advise you on what action can be taken and further information is available on the litter page.

If your enquiry relates to the persistent burning of garden waste (bonfires), which is causing a nuisance due to smoke pollution, further information is available on the burning waste (bonfires) page.

How do I activate the community trigger?

Community trigger is a way that you can ask the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Humberside Police, local clinical commissioning group or your registered social landlord to review their responses to complaints of anti-social behaviour (ASB). 

If you have already reported anti-social behaviour to Humberside Police, your registered social landlord, your local clinical commissioning group or the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the problem has not been resolved, you can use the community trigger to ask for a review of your case if:

• an individual has reported at least three incidents of anti-social behaviour to the local authority, police, a registered housing provider (social landlord) and/or local clinical commissioning group in the last six months and they consider there has been no action taken or insufficient action has been taken, or

• where at least five individuals in the local community have individually reported similar incidents of anti-social behaviour to the local authority, police, a registered housing provider (social landlord) and/or local clinical commissioning group in the last six months and they consider there has been no action taken or insufficient action has been taken given that they have had a reasonable time to respond. 

This is known as ‘the threshold’. Account may be taken of the persistence of the antisocial behaviour, the harm or potential harm caused the adequacy of the response and whether it is hate-motivated.

ASB can include any of the things listed in the answer to the ‘What is anti-social behaviour?' question.

Anyone can activate the trigger, not just the victim. This may be a family member, carer, MP, councillor or friend for example. The victim can be an individual, a business or a community group.

The community trigger has been designed to make sure that partners work together to try to resolve your ASB complaint. We talk about the problem, share information and act together to try and resolve it.

It doesn't replace organisations' own complaints procedures and you still have the opportunity to complain to the ombudsman or Independent Police Complaints Commission if you are unhappy about the service you have received from an individual officer or service.

How to activate the community trigger

If you have complained about ASB to us, Humberside Police, your local clinical commissioning group or your registered social landlord and want to activate the community trigger, you can contact the manager of the anti-social behaviour team at the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and say that you want to activate the community trigger. We will consider whether your request meets the threshold so please think about this before making the request. If it does, we will review action taken by all agencies to address the ASB that you have reported.

You need to provide details of each time you have complained, to who (name, organisation and incident reference number - if you have one) and details of the anti-social behaviour.

You can do this by simply sending an email to safe.communities@eastriding.gov.uk.

Post

Write to: 

Manager, anti-social behaviour team
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
County Hall
Cross Street
Beverley
HU17 9BA.

In person

Visit a customer service centre.

Phone

Telephone the anti-social behaviour team on (01482) 396380.

What happens next?

Once you have asked for a community trigger review the manager of the anti-social behaviour team will contact the agencies involved and ask them to provide details of your complaints. A minimum of two people from two different agencies decide if the threshold for review is met. You are then informed of their decision and are given reasons if the criteria to review your case have not been met.

If the threshold is met, a manager is allocated to your complaint and it is reviewed within 28 days. A meeting takes place between the appropriate agencies which may include the anti-social behaviour team, Humberside Police, the housing department, Environmental Control, registered housing providers, and other partners (if they are involved). During the meeting they discuss the anti-social behaviour and what actions have been considered and taken, they will also make recommendations of how the problem may be resolved. You will be informed of the outcome and where further actions are needed an action plan and timescales will be discussed with you. 

If you are unhappy with the decision you can appeal to the housing services group manager at the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. They let you know of their decision within 28 days and if your appeal is successful they refer it back to the group for further review.

Requests to activate the Community Trigger and the response

For the period 20 October 2019 to 19 October 2020

• The number of applications to activate the trigger - 3
• The number of times the threshold for review was not met - 0
• The number of anti-social behaviour case reviews carried out - 2
• The number of anti-social behaviour case reviews that resulted in recommendations being made - 2

One application was withdrawn by the victim.

No requests were received for the same period in 2015/16 and 2016/17 and two were made in 2017/18 and 2018/19.

I've fallen out with my neighbour, what can I do?

If one of your neighbours is causing you a nuisance, we suggest that you talk to them as soon as possible, providing it is safe to do so. When talking to your neighbour, politely explain what they are doing and why this is causing you a nuisance. This will hopefully enable any potential problems to be addressed politely.

Neighbour disputes can be caused by many different things. Long-standing neighbour disputes can be very difficult to resolve and on many occasions, it is not possible for us to do anything about it. The people who suffer as a result of long-standing disputes are both neighbours and the best resolution is always for you to try and resolve the situation.

The following are examples of the types of things that can cause neighbour disputes:

• barking dogs
• ownership of land/fences/building new structures, such as sheds
• noisy parties/loud music/domestic noise
• repairing vehicles on the road/private driveway
• parking vehicles in front of a neighbours house
• groups of children hanging around waiting to see one of their friends who lives at a neighbour's property
• hedgerows (high hedges or untidy hedges)
• untidy gardens.

If you have spoken to your neighbour or feel that it is unsafe to do so you should contact the council and the landlord of your neighbour’s property if it is rented and you know who this is. If the landlord is not able or willing to help, you should contact the council. If your neighbour lives in a house owned by the council further information can be found on the council tenants page.

If they do not live in a council house, the following guidance should help us deal with your enquiry as quickly as possible.

What should I do if I am in dispute with my neighbour over the boundary of our properties?

Boundary disputes occur every day in one guise or another and these are not matters that the council can resolve.

Read more below:

Can I force my neighbour to repair a damaged fence?

Not usually, unless there is some kind of covenant on their property that forces the issue.

If the state of their fence is bothering you or causing security issues, there is no reason why you shouldn’t erect a fence of your own next to it.

You could offer to pay for the repairs yourself, if the neighbour simply can’t afford the repairs. If you do this, be sure to put the offer in writing and say that fence is a gift which doesn’t affect the boundary position at all. Keep a copy of your letter with the title deeds, to avoid any boundary confusion in the future.

If you put your own fence up on your own land, you need to be careful not to damage any of your neighbour's property, and make sure it fits in with all the relevant planning permission and bye-laws.

Adjoining neighbours can sometimes get into a dispute about the position and ownership of a particular boundary, be it a fence, wall, barrier or some other kind of boundary line. Often the boundary dispute will arise when one party wishes to use part of the land for something particular and the adjoining neighbour opposes that on the grounds that the other is encroaching upon their land.

Alternatively, arguments also arise where damage has been done to a particular fence or wall, for example, which then needs repair and the decision over who is going to pay the bill.

I'm having problems with ball games being played on and around my property. What can I do?

If young people are playing ball games in a manner that causes you a nuisance, you should try and speak to the parents (if known, and if it is safe to do so).

Before doing so remember, people are allowed to:

• play football or other games in a safe manner on a piece of grass or other safe, publicly-owned area
• hang around in a group in the street
• make a reasonable amount of noise whilst playing.

If nuisance continues, the council may be able to help by redesigning an area of land that we own. Once you have tried to deal with the nuisance yourself, if it is safe to do so, you can:

Report anti-social behaviour

If people are going into your garden to retrieve their ball without your permission, the council cannot prevent them from doing this. You may be able to take your own action to prevent them from doing this, such as redesigning your garden or even taking your own private legal action.

In many cases, a quick word with their parents should resolve the problem.

Can the council do anything about graffiti?

The council can assist you in getting the graffiti removed by completing the form below, telling us where the graffiti is:

Report anti-social behaviour

The first thing we will do is find out who owns the property that the graffiti is on. If it's on your property we will be able to help get it removed with your permission.

Are there any Public Spaces Protection Orders in the East Riding?

168 Public Spaces Protection Orders (“PSPOs”) (one for each parish) were introduced on 1 September 2016 in accordance with Section 60 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (“2014 Act”).  The 2014 Act provides that the local authority that made the Orders may extend the period for which they have effect if satisfied on reasonable grounds that doing so is necessary to prevent:-

 (a)  occurrence or recurrence after that time of the activities identified in the Order, or

 (b)  an increase in the frequency or seriousness of those activities after that time.

A review took place in 2019 and a further review of two Orders took place in April 2021.

The next review of all of the Orders will be undertaken in early 2022 and a decision taken as to whether to extend, vary or discharge any of them as from 1 September 2022.

Breach of Public Spaces Protection Orders

All breaches of Orders regarding dogs should be reported to:

Email: dog.warden@eastriding.gov.uk

All breaches of Orders regarding the consumption of alcohol or access to parts of the public highway where restrictions are in place should be reported to Humberside Police on 101.

New Public Spaces Protection Orders

Requests for additional areas to be included in Orders covering dog control should be sent to one of the email addresses below:

Email: dog.warden@eastriding.gov.uk

Email: safe.communities@eastriding.gov.uk

Further information about Public Spaces Protection Orders

Public Spaces Protection Orders were introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014:

Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (external website)

The following PDF documents provide an overview of the Orders:

PSPO - Dog Leaflet (pdf 764kb)

PSPO - Alcohol Consumption Information (pdf 10.2kb)

PSPO - Gating Information (pdf 7.6kb)

What will happen if you cause a nuisance in the East Riding whilst drinking? 

Not only will the person be likely to get arrested, they may also be charged or reported for summons for a criminal offence(s) or receive a £80 on-the-spot fine.

Many people enjoy going out in the East Riding to have a good time with their family and friends. A minority start causing a nuisance and the excessive consumption of alcohol is often a contributory factor.

This will not be tolerated.

Part 3 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives the Police powers to require a person committing or likely to commit anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, to leave an area for up to 48 hours. The Police can also confiscate any item that could be used to commit anti-social behaviour, crime or disorder.

Humberside Police and East Riding of Yorkshire Council are working together to deal with people who constantly cause the alcohol-related nuisance. 

This will involve the use of acceptable behaviour contracts and applications to the court for  Civil Injunction or criminal behaviour orders.

Can anything be done if my neighbour has installed a CCTV camera and it seems to be pointing towards my house/garden or a public space?

If you are concerned that you or others are being filmed, please follow the link and it will provide guidance on what you can do:

CCTV guidance (external website)

What are the changes to anti-social behaviour legislation in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and Sentencing Act 2020?

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 took effect on 20 October 2014.

The Act abolished 19 existing tools, including the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), Designated Public Place Order (No Drinking Zone) and Gating Orders. 

All existing tools are replaced by six new powers, including Criminal Behaviour Orders, Civil Injunctions and Public Spaces Protection Orders.

Further information can be found in this guidance document issued by the Home Office.

Home Office ASB Guidance (pdf 946kb)

Criminal Behaviour Orders were later repealed and replaced with new Orders in the Sentencing Act 2020

Sentencing Act (external website)

What do I do if I am not happy with the response I receive?

If you are not happy with the response you receive, contact us online with the details of your complaint.

Alternatively, you can email us:

Email: safe.communities@eastriding.gov.uk 
  
We will investigate your complaint in accordance with the council’s feedback procedure. 

We are here to help you, but please be patient with us as we receive a lot of enquiries and cannot always find a resolution to problems as quickly as we or you would like us to.

Do you have any information about Halloween, trick or treating and fireworks?

How can young people stay safe whilst trick or treating?

We want you to enjoy Halloween, but remember, not everyone wants to take part.

Here are a few things to remember when you're out on Halloween:

• If you’re going trick or treating, make sure you go with an adult and your parent or carer knows where you’re going and when to expect you back
  
• Respect posters asking you not to trick or treat at someone’s house
  
• Don’t go trick or treating alone - stay with your group
  
• Eggs and flour are for baking. Don’t throw them
  
• Be careful crossing roads in the dark.
  

 Have a great time, stay safe and look out for each other. 

How should I respond to trick or treaters?

It is not just at Halloween when unexpected callers turn up on your doorstep.  Here are a few tips to remember to keep you safe:

• Official visitors should always make an appointment beforehand
  
• Look through the door view or window to see who is outside
  
• If you decide to open the door, put the chain or bar on first
  
• Check the caller's details before you let them into your home. Telephone the relevant organisation to confirm the caller's identity
  
• Do not rely on a phone number that the caller gives you
  
• Do not feel pressurised into buying items on your doorstep and be wary of callers who may offer home repairs or gardening.
  

Download our 'We don't wish to take part' poster.

Halloween - We don't wish to take part poster (pdf 92kb)

What do I need to know about fireworks?  

Fireworks are great fun but it is important to remember that they can also cause distress and injuries if not handled properly.

If you are using fireworks at home simply follow our guidelines to ensure you have a safe but fun bonfire night.

Remember, remember...

• Only buy fireworks from a legitimate retailer
  
• It is illegal to supply fireworks to persons under the age of 18
  
• Shops are not allowed to sell fireworks louder than 120 decibels
  
• It is an offence for under-18s to have fireworks in a public place
  
• You should never throw or set off a firework in the street, onto a road or in a public place
  
• You’re not allowed to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am except on Bonfire Night whereby the curfew is midnight to 7am. New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, curfew is 1am
  
• Anyone caught causing a nuisance with fireworks will receive an instant fine and any fireworks found on a person under 18 will be confiscated
  
• Never use any kind of accelerant i.e. petrol to start a bonfire
  
• Always inform your neighbours if you are using fireworks and be considerate
  
• Ensure your fireworks comply with British Standard 7114 or the European equivalents
  
• Remember, if you break the law on fireworks you could be sent to prison for up to six months or your parents or carers could receive a fine.
  

 You can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on these dates:

• 15 October - 10 November
  
• 26 - 31 December
  
• 3 days before Diwali and Chinese New Year.
  

  At other times you can only buy fireworks from licensed shops.

Where can I get further information and support?

If you would like to report anti-social behaviour to the council, please use the link below: 

Report anti-social behaviour

For advice and guidance on what can be done to tackle anti-social behaviour, contact your nearest customer service centre who will put you through to the appropriate service:Find your nearest customer service centre

Alternatively, you can contact the anti-social behaviour team, in strictest confidence by:

Email: safe.communities@eastriding.gov.uk

We are committed to supporting victims of anti-social behaviour. The first thing we do is talk the problem through with you in the strictest of confidence. After we understand the problem fully, we will let you know how we will investigate the matter and which service area will be responsible for carrying out the investigation. 

We manage a heavy workload and vulnerable and repeat victims will be prioritised.

The Victim Support website has more information:

Victim Support - Support for victims and witnesses (external website)