Alarm Nuisance - Owners could face bills.......
Absent residents, who annoy their neighbours with noisy intruder alarms could face bills running into hundreds of pounds |  |
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Basildon Council recommends that people with burglar alarms should register their key holder details with the Council's Environmental Health Services before finding themselves out of pocket and faced with the embarrassment of being locked out of their own homes.
Register you keyholder details
Householders can register their keyholder details with Basildon Council's Environmental Health Services by completing an Audible Alarm Registration form.
See Downloadable form: Audible Alarm Registration Form.pdf 
Registration documents will enable residents to register details of people who hold the keys to the property while the owner or tenant is away from home.
This will mean the Council can deal with complaints about alarms quickly and cheaply by alerting the keyholder.
Any details The Council holds will be strictly confidential and kept securely.
Environmental health officers estimate that at least 90 per cent of homes with alarms do not have key holder details registered with the Council.
Every year the Council receives complaints about alarms going on for hours and hours. This can cause a lot of distress to nearby residents and can be very expensive for the owners of the property when they return.
If an alarm sounds for more than 20 minutes and is causing a nuisance, the Council can obtain a warrant from the Magistrates Court and have the powers to call a locksmith to enter the premises and deal with the alarm, then fit a new lock before they leave.
It could also mean that a specialist electrician must be called in to deal with the system. All these costs mount up.
There is no need for any of this if residents just complete a simple form and return it to Basildon Council.
Keyholders should live within a reasonable travelling distance to the property and should be made aware that they could be called on in the middle of the night by environmental health officers if the alarm goes off.
Trouble Free Intruder Defences
Environmental Health have some top tips
- make sure the alarm is fitted with the legal 20 minute cut-out device
- have the alarm serviced regularly
- log key holder's details with Environmental Health
- tell neighbours how they can contact key holders
- anyone thinking of having an alarm installed should make sure it is done by a reputable alarm company.
All completed forms and any other documentation should be returned to: |
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| Address: | Basildon District Council
Environmental Health Services
The Basildon Centre
St Martin's Square
Basildon, Essex
SS14 1DL | |
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| Tele: | 01268 294280 | |
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Email: |
ehs@basildon.gov.uk  | |
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