Free lollipops for clubbers in drive to cut anti-social noise

The Piper Club in Newland Avenue is taking part in a city-wide initiative to cut excess noise.

Noisy neighbours, barking dogs and car or house alarms are among the sounds that can make some people's lives a misery, Hull Council said.

More than 2,000 noise complaints were made in the city last year, covering a range of issues but mostly featuring loud music, barking dogs, "behavioural noise" and DIY noise.

These resulted in four prosecutions and many warnings.

To combat the problem, the council is urging people to see how they can reduce unnecessary noise, and has been working with primary school children to help them understand noise nuisance, and how it may affect their health.

A girl at Alderman Cogan Church of England Primary School won a bicycle in a competition to design a poster highlighting the issue.

The principal environmental health officer at the council, Emma Goodman, said: "The poster showed a typical scenario of a neighbour dispute due to loud music being played at night and keeping people awake, which we thought captured the spirit of the action week really well.

"It's important for people, no matter how old they are, to be mindful about the amount of noise they create.

"Sometimes people aren't aware of the level of noise they are making or how much of a disturbance it creates and how it affects the health of their community.

"Once we've explained the situation to them it is usually resolved easily.

"It's unfortunate that in a minority of cases people don't co-operate, which can result in the council taking legal action."

Residents living near the Piper Club have regularly complained about anti-social noise from its customers as they walk home.

The Hull Citysafe trailer will also be at Hull University to give information to students about Noise Action Week, as well as general anti-social behaviour issues.