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Too a lot barking in Barking! Man in London borough is hit with £2,000 nice after ‘extraordinarily noisy’ canine upset his neighbours – so may you be fined in your pets?

A man has been ordered to pay nearly £2,000 because his dogs were barking too loudly – in the East London borough of Barking and Dagenham.

Syed Uzeir Iqbal, 35, was fined after the council was inundated with noise complaints in February 2024 from neighbours of the three-bedroom house.

Environmental officers then visited the end-terrace property, which was last sold in 2012 for £155,000, and heard ‘extreme noise coming from the house’.

An officer determined it to be a statutory noise nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and issued an abatement notice to the occupier, Mr Iqbal.

Failure to abide by such a notice can lead to prosecution and a £5,000 fine – with more fines of up to £500 each day on which the offence continues after conviction.

Barking and Dagenham Council in London investigated noise complaints from this property

Barking and Dagenham Council in London investigated noise complaints from this property

In Mr Iqbal’s case, a further inspection found that the property was being used for kennelling of security K9 dog units.

What is the law on dog barking in England? 

A council must investigate if a dog barking complaint is made – and take factors into consideration including the volume, duration and time of day.

If the council regards the issue as a statutory nuisance, they will often first serve an informal warning letter – but if the situation does not improve, a noise abatement notice can be issued.

The owner has 21 days to appeal the notice – but if the barking continues, a prosecution may then be brought under the Environmental Protection Act and the owner taken to court.

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Further complaints of excessive noise from the property were made, and a breach of the abatement notice was confirmed by a council officer on June 13.

A fixed penalty notice of £150 was issued, which gave the property’s owners the chance to discharge liability by paying the fine within 14 days.

Despite a reminder letter sent on July 2, the penalty remained unpaid – and a final notice of intended prosecution was issued on September 25.

When the date passed with no payment received, the council withdrew the fixed penalty notice and instead issued a summons for prosecution of the original offence of failing to abate a statutory nuisance.

The case took place at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court last week on January 28 where Mr Iqbal failed to attend and was found guilty in his absence.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £660 within 28 days, along with costs to the council of £1,001.74 and a victim surcharge of £262 – giving a total of £1,923.74.

Local Labour councillor Syed Ghani, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety said the council takes such complaints ‘very seriously’.

He added: ‘Excessive noise nuisance affects the quality of life for our residents.’