Local authorities have used antisocial behaviour powers to restrict activities such as ‘excessive’ beekeeping, cockerel crowing, and noisy pub quizzes, research reveals.
A report by the Manifesto Club revealed that over 20,700 community protection warnings (CPWs) and 6,100 community protection notices (CPNs) were issued in 2023.
These covered a range of issues, including messy gardens, begging, swearing, and street drinking.
The research found that Thanet Council prohibited ‘excessive beehives’ while Broadland Council restricted ‘bee keeping in residential garden’.
East Devon Council restricted ‘cockerel crowing’ and Havant Council ordered someone to ‘curtail all shouting, screaming and swearing’ in their house.
East Cambridgeshire issued a CPW for ‘noise from quiz night’, and another for noise from an electric guitar.
A spokesperson for the Manifesto Club said the CPN was an ‘unregulated and deeply problematic power.’
‘The low benchmark of issue allows a large latitude for officials to use the power as they please, leading to erratic and voluntaristic application and extreme variation between different council areas,’ they added.
