Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Alarms

Burglar alarms

Noise made by burglar alarms is a common cause of complaints. People who seek to protect their homes or businesses by installing a system or taking over an existing system have a responsibility to ensure the device does not become a source of noise nuisance to their neighbours and the general public.

When installing an alarm you need to ensure that:

• The alarm meets British Standards – you can check this with the alarm installer or engineer
• The alarm has a suitable device fitted to cut off the alarm after 20 minutes. Such a cut out device can be supplemented with a flashing light which will continue to operate after the sounder has ceased to alert the public and police to the alarmed state of the property
• The alarm is then regularly serviced and maintained.

All owners of newly adopted or installed alarm systems must:

• Inform the local police station in writing of the names, addresses and contact telephone numbers of at least two nominated key holders who can be called upon to de-activate the alarm in the absence of the owner
• Notify the Vale’s Environmental Health Team of the installation of the system and the name of the police station holding the key holder information. Copies of the notification forms are available on request. 

If an alarm is found to be causing a statutory noise nuisance the Council can issue a noise abatement notice requiring the alarm to be silenced. If necessary the Council can carry out works to silence the alarm. If this happens the owner of the alarm will be liable for any costs incurred – this could be at least £150.

Vehicle alarms

It is an offence for the registered keeper of a vehicle to allow an alarm to sound frequently or for a prolonged period causing nuisance to people in the area.

Council officers can serve a noise abatement notice on the vehicle owner requiring them to de-activate the alarm.

If, after an hour, the person has not come forward, the Council can carry out work to de-activate the alarm or remove the vehicle. The costs of doing this – which can be more than £200 - will be recovered from the person responsible or the registered keeper of the vehicle.

Advice for vehicle owners

• By law all vehicle alarms must have a five minute cut out device fitted
• Set your alarm to a reasonable level of sensitivity to minimise false alarms
• Maintain your alarm system in good working order.