Which counties have the noisiest neighbours?

With vehicle numbers on British roads reaching nearly 42 million in 2024, a record high, this rise in cars brings with it increased noise from our busy streets.

While the roar of cars at a racetrack might be exhilarating, the reality is much less thrilling when you're woken up by a neighbour's loud exhaust at 6 am or trying to concentrate while car alarms blare outside your window.

From revving engines to faulty car alarms, vehicle noise pollution disrupts daily life for thousands of Brits. But which areas of the country are dealing with the most automotive annoyances?

To find out where in the UK is suffering the most from car noise-related issues, we submitted Freedom of Information requests to councils across the country. We received responses from 327 local authorities detailing the number of vehicle-related noise complaints they received over the past three years, including the specific data on car alarm complaints. By taking the average annual number of complaints across the three years, we've identified the noisiest spots. Here's what we discovered.

Key findings

• Islington is the neighbourhood with the most vehicle-related noise complaints

• Five of the top 10 councils with the most vehicle noise complaints are in London

• Only 10 neighbourhoods had no noise complaints

Who has the neighbours with the noisiest cars?

Being the bustling capital city that it is, it’s unsurprising to see London make an appearance among the UK’s areas with the most vehicle-related noise complaints. Islington in the north of London tops the table, with the council receiving an average of 13 complaints per 10,000 residents over the past 3 years. That’s almost 11 times more than the UK average.

The situation isn’t much quieter in the rest of London. In second place, the unfortunate residents of Westminster submit official complaints for an average of 7.5 noise issues per 10,000 every year. The majority of these were related to car alarm noise.

This was followed by the London boroughs of Camden (7.0) and Kensington and Chelsea (6.9). Overall, five London boroughs ranked in the top 10 noisiest areas for car noise, highlighting how densely populated areas with high traffic create the perfect storm for noise complaints.

When it comes to car alarms going off, Newham fared the worst. The borough saw 165 car alarm-related complaints to the council in 2024 alone.

Which regions hear the most car noise?

On a broader regional level, the analysis reveals that London has the most noise complaints, followed by the North East and Wales.

London tops the table as the noisiest, with over 1,500 noise complaints per year on average from 2022 to 2024. This equates to more than four complaints every single day across the city. The sheer volume of traffic combined with almost 9 million residents makes it a hotspot for vehicle noise complaints.

The North East of England secured second place, closely following London. This region saw a yearly average of 433 car noise-related complaints over the past three years—19.5 complaints per 100,000 residents. Wales rounds out the top three, with 16 complaints per 100,000.

With the top five spanning the country, there's no clear geographical trend.

What are the repercussions of noisy vehicles?

For drivers whose cars make too much noise, the consequences can be costly. Even when your car is stationary on the street or in a driveway or garage, excessive noise can land you in hot water with both neighbours and the authorities.

Under Section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, anyone causing a noise nuisance can be served with an Abatement Notice. This is essentially a formal warning from the council to stop the disruptive activity. Continued violations after this type of notice can result in prosecution and fines of up to £5,000 in the Magistrate's Court.

Depending on the circumstances, the police can also take action under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 against anyone whose driving causes alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public. They can even seize and remove vehicles entirely, with substantial costs to get them back.

Methodology

To find the areas that had the most noise complaints, webuyanycar submitted Freedom of Information requests to all of the UK local authorities in November 2024 (361 in total). We received responses from 91% of these.

We asked for the following information:

• Total number of vehicle-related noise complaints (including complaints about noise from cars, vans, and motorbikes).
• Number of complaints regarding vehicle alarms.
• Number of noise abatement notices issued related to vehicle noise.
• Fines or penalties issued for vehicle noise violations

There was insufficient data from local authorities on the number of abatement notices, fines and penalties, so this information was excluded from the final study.

The data covers the years 2022 and 2023, as well as 2024 up to the point the data was shared. Local authorities were ranked based on the average number of noise complaints per year over these three years.

Population data for regions was calculated by summing the populations in the councils that provided data. Councils with no data were excluded from the ranking table and population counts for the region.