More than 3,000 anti-social behaviour complaints in Lincoln last year

More than 3,000 complaints related to anti-social behaviour, including littering, fly-tipping and noise, were made across Lincoln this past year.

The City of Lincoln Council’s anti-social behaviour team recorded 3,181 reports in the city between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019.

Among the complaints made was littering, noise issues and general anti-social behaviour.

By comparison, the authority received 3,205 complaints in the previous year.

As a result of investigating the reports, the authority handed out 589 fines for littering, one for dog fouling and one for dog straying.

City Hall, off Orchard Street. Photo Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Eight fixed penalty notices were issued for fly-tipping and 29 noise abatement notices were handed out, of which two were for cockerel crowing and seven for dogs barking.

The authority also issued:

• 89 littering prosecutions
• Seven fly-tipping prosecutions
• 21 community protection notices for bins on the street
• Two prosecution for noise reports
• Three warrants for noise
• One community protection notice for noise
• Six community protection notices for anti-social behaviour
• Three injunctions for anti-social behaviour
• 10 prevention of damage by pests notices for a property
• 27 condition of garden or property notices
• Three fixed penalty notices due to condition of a property
• One prosecution for microchipping of dogs
• One community protection notice for dog attack on a person
• Five microchipping notices

Francesca Bell, public protection, anti-social behaviour and licensing service manager at the authority, said the amount of complaints was not a concern for the council.

“Generally the complaints are spread evenly across the year, although we do often see an increase in complaints over the summer months,” she said.

“It’s reassuring that with a growing population we are seeing a marginal reduction in reports however we are seeing a rise in enforcement action taken.”

However, she added that noise nuisance had seen an increase and that the authority is “monitoring” reports to see if there is a trend.

St Peter’s Passage in Lincoln which has been gated off by the council. Photo: Sarah Barker for The Lincolnite

Meanwhile, the council said complaints about students in the West End of the city have reduced over the last year.

Among the measures taken to tackle the problem include closing off St Peter’s Passage in the city, which was described as “intimidating” and a “hotspot” for drug taking.

Following a spate of drug abuse in the city centre last year, the council also set up an intervention team to tackle the issue head on.

The city council’s intervention team was launched in October 2018 after a spate of drug abuse across the city. It patrols the streets every week. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The scheme was tasked with focusing on the “complexity” of the problem, as well as helping to enforce the city centre alcohol ban.

Since it was set up in October 2018, the team has offered support to 103 different people.

The intervention team is now funded to run until December 2020.

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