Bothered by burglar alarm noise?
If you are bothered by noise from burglar alarms we can help. See our Bothered
by Noise? page, under the main navigation list on the left side of this page,
for more information.
If your house or business is fitted with a burglar alarm you must notify the council and the police.
Failure to do this can have serious implications. Your neighbours could be unreasonably disturbed if the alarm goes off and the council may have to enter your property in order to silence it.
Telephone Public Protection at the council on 020 7527 3258.
Your responsibilities are set out in Section 23 of the London Local Authorities Act 1991.
In particular you are required to:
We also recommend that you ensure the alarm is regularly maintained, and we
suggest that it is serviced yearly
Nominated keyholders are two people (not the occupier) who hold spare sets of keys to your property, so if necessary they can gain access to your property and reset the alarm.
As an alternative you may use a specialist company as a keyholder. You must ensure however, that the company can offer a 24 hour, seven-day a week service and that they have a complete set of keys.
By doing the above you can fulfill your legal requirements.
You can contact the police on 0800 197 771, (from 8am to 8pm), to register
your keyholder details for free. You may also register by visiting the Met
Police's page under Useful Websites, on the right-hand side of this page.
Registering your keyholder details there costs a small fee. We advise that you
confirm your details anually.
If your alarm rings and proves to be a nuisance at law, the council will serve you with a Noise Abatement Notice and may have to break into your premises to disconnect the alarm.
We would then resecure the premises by changing the locks.
The council will charge for the officer time and the money spent in turning the alarm off. This could be as much as £300.
Failure to comply with the Abatement Notice is a criminal offence and the council can prosecute you.
If found guilty you may have to pay a fine, which could be as much as £5,000 for residential premises, and £20,000 for commercial premises.
Page Last Updated: 31 October 2008