Anti-social behaviour
What is anti-social behaviour?
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is serious or persistent behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to an individual or the wider community. It can damage a person's quality of life.
Examples can include:
- Riding mopeds, motorbikes, off road bikes or scooters through estates and on paths
- Rowdy, noisy behaviour including shouting and yelling close to people’s homes
- Littering and fly-tipping rubbish, including leaving used needles
- Groups of teenagers hanging round the streets, paths and shops
- Drinking alcohol, being drunk or rowdy in a public place
- Playing loud music
- Climbing on roofs or property that does not belong to you
- Abandoning cars on the street
- Vandalism and graffiti
- Use of an imitation weapon, like a BB gun, in a public place
- Setting off fireworks late at night
- Begging
- Harassment
Some of the above is criminal behaviour and can be prosecuted by police.
ASB is not limited to groups of young people - adults can be reckless and abusive and carry about offences.
ASB is not:
- ball games
- neighbour disputes
- domestic issues
- drug use
- violent behaviour
If there is serious risk to life or property, call 999.
Reporting ASB
There are many different types of ASB. Some matters will be dealt with by the police, but some are best reported to the council for our Civic Enforcement or StreeScene teams to deal with.
Who should I contact?
Darlington Council |
Durham Police - call 101 or report online [external page] |
| Flytipping/littering/waste on land | Begging |
| Dog fouling | Vandalism |
| Abandoned vehicles | Gangs and youths drinking in parks |
| Graffiti | Harassment or intimidation |
| Lost or stray dogs | Dangerous dogs |
| Noise nuisance | Misuse of fireworks |
| Parking issues |
Nuisance driving, including quad bikes, motorbikes and off road bikes |
| Found syringes | Dealing/taking of drugs and drinking alcohol in the street |
The links above include information about how to make a report to the council about each different type of ASB.
You can also make non urgent reports on council matters online:
Report anti-social behaviour online
You can call us anonymously on 01325 406999.
For police matters, there is more information about how to report an incident on the Durham Police Report It page [external page].You can also call the non-emergency number101
In an emergency call 999
ASB involving council housing or tenants
Visit our housing webpages to see how we handle nuisance and ASB in relation to council housing
How we will respond
In most cases we will contact you within 24 hours to let you know we are looking into your issue.
A report of ASB will not always mean a police officer or a council civic enforcement officer attends the incident. However, every report is logged and investigated - the teams use the information from every report to map ASB hotspots so that resources can be targeted. This could mean, for example, patrols are targeted in a certain area at a certain time of the week where there is often trouble, or cameras could be deployed to watch out for problems reported in a particular alleyway.
If you are the target of ASB or you are experiencing abuse/harassment we may need to speak to you before we can start an investigation.
You can report ASB anonymously.
We can act as a witness on your behalf.
We can meet you at your home, in our office or somewhere else if you would prefer.
What happens to perpetrators?
When we have spoken to a perpetrator (or their parent if they are under 16) there are various things we can do.
Acceptable behaviour agreement (ABA) - these agreements run for a specified time and can contain prohibitions. For example:
- not to go into a particular area
- not to swear
- not to associate with other offenders
Where appropriate, failure to follow the agreed terms can result in an anti-social behaviour injunction, community protection notice (CPN) or a criminal behaviour order (CBO).
A court may give a civil injunction and the council can issue a CPN if we get reports of persistent anti-social behaviour.
You can only get a CBO if you are convicted of a crime linked to anti-social behaviour.
Community trigger
When a problem is not resolved you can activate a community trigger. The community trigger gives victims of anti-social behaviour the opportunity to request a review of their case. It brings agencies together to help find a solution.
The trigger isn't to be for complaints about how the enforcement team have handled your issue. You can send complaints about council officials to corporate complaints.