Anti-social behaviour (ASB)

What is anti-social behaviour (ASB)?

Anti-social behaviour is a broad term used to describe incidents of crime, nuisance and disorder which cause individuals or groups to feel harassment, alarm or distress. There is no simple definition for anti-social behaviour as people's understanding is often based on their own personal perceptions and experiences.

We define anti-social behaviour as behaviour that:

results or is likely to result in another party feeling threatened or harassed
creates a public nuisance
has a detrimental impact on the environment
has a detrimental impact on the quality of life or an individual or a community

What do I do if I’m experiencing anti-social behaviour?

In the first instance, if you're experiencing anti-social behaviour, you could try and talk to the person causing the problem. They may not realise they're being anti-social. Only do this if you feel safe and comfortable.

Social housing tenants: If you do not feel comfortable or safe in approaching the person behaving anti-socially and you live in a social housing property, then you must report this to your landlord. If you’re a CBC tenant, please visit the housing services ASB page.

If you do not feel comfortable or safe in approaching the person behaving anti-socially and you live in a private property or wish to complain about a public space issue, then you can report these behaviours to us below.

What types of anti-social behaviour can we assist with?

harassment, threatening or intimidating behaviour
rowdy behaviour and public drunkenness
public drug taking
anti-social noise (persistent shouting, abuse, music noise)
fly-tipping
littering
graffiti and other types of vandalism
abandoned vehicles

Rough sleeping itself is not illegal and we will not take any enforcement measures against individuals having or choosing to do so. However if a rough sleeper or homeless person is behaving antisocially, you can report this to us.

If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough, you can contact StreetLink. Outreach support workers will look to locate the individual and start the engagement process. We work closely with partners to support vulnerable individuals and offer them assistance. More information can be found on our homelessness support page.

Report an issue

Report anti-social behaviour online

Emergencies

You should contact the police by calling 999 if:

a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed
someone is in immediate danger or harm
property is in danger of being damaged
a serious disruption to the public is likely

What happens next?

If your report is assessed to be lower risk, it may be allocated to a team within the council or to your local PCSO at Gloucestershire Constabulary for investigation. We will contact you to let you know.

If your report is deemed to be moderate to high risk it may be sent to Solace to deal with. They will contact you for further information and to advise how they plan to act.

All information provided to us will be kept strictly confidential.

Solace

We work with Solace, a partnership between Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire Constabulary. The multi-agency team of officers works together with victims and communities to prevent, investigate, and tackle anti-social behaviour assessed as to medium to high risk.

The primary aim of Solace is to reduce repeat incidents and victims of ASB by providing a consistent partnership approach between the police and local authorities, alongside support agencies and other partners.

You can contact Solace directly by emailing solace@gloucestershire.police.uk.

What do I do if my complaint has not been resolved?

Under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, victims of ASB have the right to request an ASB case review, also known as a community trigger. The case review process provides victims of persistent anti-social behaviour (ASB) the right to request a formal review of their case when they feel that agencies/organisations have not taken effective action. This process is designed to bring together local organisations to share information, to assess actions that have already been taken, and to agree on a coordinated plan to resolve issues.

For more information on ASB case review, please visit the Office of Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner.