Reporting nuisances

Bad smells - what the council can do

Council officers will investigate complaints about smells from commercial premises, such as restaurants or shops, and may be able to take action to stop it from affecting you.

You will be asked to complete a diary of when you experience the smells and describe how it affects you. With this information we can see if we can help you to resolve the issue. It will need to be found a ‘statutory nuisance’ for us to help you.

Complaints about your neighbours

The law does not allow us to deal with smells coming from domestic homes. This means that we cannot help you with smells, such as cooking smells, from a neighbour's property.

Making a complaint

It is best that you talk to the business about the problem before contacting the council. In many cases, people do not realise that there is an issue and will try to resolve things with you.

Report a nuisance with smell

If you have an open case please contact your case officer. If you resubmit another form this may delay our investigation.