Owners of 20 husky dogs fined for ignoring noise notice

Stephen and Lynette Hinchliffe, of Armitage Road, Deepcar, Sheffield, ignored a noise abatement notice issued by Sheffield City Council’s environmental protection service.

In March last year neighbours complained about the noise from the dogs, and the couple were issued with warning letters.

But the problem continued, despite council officers’ best efforts to help and resolve the complaint.

A noise monitoring device was installed at a nearby property and recorded 20 instances, over a period of a week, where the noise was sufficient to be considered a statutory nuisance.

A noise abatement notice was issued in July 2015, putting the couple on a formal warning that, if the noise continued, they may be prosecuted.

However, the noise continued to be a problem and in September, noise monitoring equipment was once again installed and 40 instances of excessive noise were monitored, most of which were in the early morning.

After a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates Court, Mr Hinchliffe, 52, and Mrs Hinchliffe, 45, were each fined £500 and ordered to pay £475 costs to Sheffield City Council and £200 compensation to their neighbours, as well as a victim surcharge of £50, giving a total of £2,450.

Cabinet member for the environment at Sheffield Council, Coun Bryan Lodge, said: “We are very pleased with this result. The financial penalty reflects the misery of the neighbours caught up in this issue.

“We take all noise complaints seriously, and although we will make every effort to resolve complaints at an early stage, if our help and advice is ignored we will use formal action.

“We hope that this action serves as a warning to others.”