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Light Nuisance

Environmental Health deals with complaints about nuisance caused by excessively bright lights

Some suggestions to avoid causing a problem with outside lights are:

  • Position - Think about the position of the light. Is it shining directly at a neighbour’s bedroom window?
  • Shield - Use a shield or hood so that the light is directed to the area it is meant for.
  • Size of the bulb - Use a low watt, low energy bulb. Some security floodlights are 500w whereas 150w is fine for most situations, this will also help reduce your running costs
  • Timer - Reduce the amount of time a light is on by fitting a timer, and if a sensor is fitted think about the area covered by the sensor so that it does not cause the light to come on more often than is needed.
  • Use - Does the area need a light? sometimes lights can create shadows for criminals to work in. If you want more information about this, please read our leaflet ‘security lighting friend or foe’ in the related content

What you should do if you are having problems with a light

In most cases the problem can be resolved by politely telling the person about it, if they do not know it is a problem, they cannot deal with it. If after a reasonable amount of time nothing has been done to solve the problem, you can make a complaint to us.

Please read how we will investigate your complaint first

If you still want to make a complaint, you can do this by completing our on-line form 

Make a complaint about a light

Do I have to wait for the council to investigate my complaint?

No - You can take your own private legal action. Taking your own legal action may be quicker than our investigation, but you may have to pay legal costs. Advice about taking your own action is provided in our booklet called ‘Statutory nuisance –taking your own private action’ which can be found in the related content.