Bath Abbey plagued by buskers

On 22 September, the Western Daily Press reported that “[w]orshippers at Bath Abbey had to abandon their choral evensong service last night – because the dulcet tones of the choirboys were being drowned out by the noise of buskers outside.” Neighbourhood noise is a potentially contentious area and is covered by number of environmental provisions [1], some of which are available to individual complainants although the Environmental Protection Officer is generally the first port of call. In this case, however, legislation brought in through the much maligned “ASBO Bill” may provide a more effective solution than the more traditional approaches based upon statutory- or common law nuisance. Continue reading