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My next door neighbour has extremely loud barking and howling dogs, which they deliberately leave alone for long periods of time in their living room that directly adjoins my own (semi-detached) property. The dogs bark and howl throughout the week while the neighbour is at work and also at weekends, and they have done so since shortly after the neighbour moved in three years ago. We originally negotiated a solution that involved the neighbour putting the dogs outside with access to a shed during the day - which minimised the noise I directly experienced, but this was soon abandoned by the neighbour for reasons unknown and the situation returned to its previous levels of annoyance and disruption.
After having my further complaints to them openly mocked, it seems pointless to attempt to negotiate further and I have now reached the end of my patience with the ongoing disturbance. In gathering evidence of the noise to offer to an outside authority, I have been recording the noise on a handheld device. In the process of doing so, I have placed my arm through the hedge adjoining our properties up against the corner panel of a bay window in order to obtain the best possible recording.
I assume that I have been seen doing this, as the neighbour has now left a note in their window facing the hedge informing me that "You are trespassing on my property and you have been reported". There is no further information and I will not be asking them about it as we are no longer on speaking terms. I have remained in my own front garden when recording the noise, and have done nothing more than put my arm through the hedge with the recording device held up against the neighbour's living room window.
Have I broken the law of trespass by doing this? It has now been over a week since the notice went up and I have not yet heard anything from whoever the neighbour has allegedly 'reported' me to, so perhaps the neighbour was simply trying to intimidate me into not complaining. If so their action has backfired, because only until now was I hesitant to escalate the matter further through official channels.
Meanwhile the dogs continue to bark and howl exactly as before.
To be on the safe side from now on, I will restrict myself to recording the noise from indoors and/or from my garden without moving any part of my anatomy through the hedge or placing it over the fence.
After having my further complaints to them openly mocked, it seems pointless to attempt to negotiate further and I have now reached the end of my patience with the ongoing disturbance. In gathering evidence of the noise to offer to an outside authority, I have been recording the noise on a handheld device. In the process of doing so, I have placed my arm through the hedge adjoining our properties up against the corner panel of a bay window in order to obtain the best possible recording.
I assume that I have been seen doing this, as the neighbour has now left a note in their window facing the hedge informing me that "You are trespassing on my property and you have been reported". There is no further information and I will not be asking them about it as we are no longer on speaking terms. I have remained in my own front garden when recording the noise, and have done nothing more than put my arm through the hedge with the recording device held up against the neighbour's living room window.
Have I broken the law of trespass by doing this? It has now been over a week since the notice went up and I have not yet heard anything from whoever the neighbour has allegedly 'reported' me to, so perhaps the neighbour was simply trying to intimidate me into not complaining. If so their action has backfired, because only until now was I hesitant to escalate the matter further through official channels.
Meanwhile the dogs continue to bark and howl exactly as before.
To be on the safe side from now on, I will restrict myself to recording the noise from indoors and/or from my garden without moving any part of my anatomy through the hedge or placing it over the fence.
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