Out-of-hours service could deal with late night complaints

Angry citizens who spot a tree being illegally felled or are deafened by rowdy parties will soon have someone to complain to at night.

The Royal Borough is planning an out-of-hours service that will run on a six-month trial - enabling people to report unauthorised tree felling, breaches of planning conditions, dangerous structures or late night noise.

If the plan is agreed by cabinet members today, residents will be able to contact experienced officers at night by calling a control room. Officers could then come out to attend specific incidents.

The officers will man the control room on a rota basis, receiving a standby allowance plus full or time-and-a-half overtime for any callouts.

An estimated 50-100 calls per year are anticipated with an annual cost of about £16,500.

The initial pilot scheme could run from January to June.