May sets out her charter to tackle noisy neighbours

Communities will be allowed to "trigger" investigations into nuisance neighbours under plans to be announced by the Home Secretary today.

In a speech on police reform in London, Teresa May will announce a "Community Trigger" scheme to be piloted this summer.

Under the plans, authorities must take action to tackle nuisance behaviour if five people from different homes across the same neighbourhood complain about the same problem.

Ms May will say the scheme will help put an end to the "horror stories" of victims' repeated reports of anti-social behaviour being ignored. She will say: "It's too easy to overlook the harm that persistent anti-social behaviour causes."

Community Safety Partnerships, made up of representatives from police and councils, will be responsible for investigating problems and will be able to reject any complaints they believe to be malicious.