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A woman from Walton-le-Dale who continued to let her dogs bark despite receiving numerous noise complaints has received a hefty fine.

Ms Rachael Whitaker, of Higher Walton Road, had lived at the property for over two years, during which time South Ribble Borough Council received numerous complaints.

She was initially visited by council officers in January 2022 and was served with an abatement notice in February 2022 as a result of their findings.

This was not enough to resolve the issue and further complaints were received.

Stock image of a dog barking. A Walton-le-Dale woman received a hefty fine due to her barking dogs (Credit: Alan Levine)

An abatement notice was subsequently served which required Ms Whitaker to control the barking to a level that would not disrupt her neighbours.

The council’s dog warden also visited Ms Whitaker to offer advice and suggestions of how to reduce the dog barking.

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But she continued to breach the notice, negatively impacting the lives of her neighbours, with one describing the situation as “unbearable”.

In August 2022, a prosecution was brought for 16 breaches of the abatement notice, and again in February 2023 when Ms Whitaker was fined £660.

The council said this had no effect as the situation continued, with further breaches of the abatement notice occurring between February and March 2023.

At Lancaster Magistrates’ Court on August 21, Ms Whitaker, 47, pleaded guilty to all ten charges relating to breach of the abatement notice.

The court also took into account the previous 16 convictions for breach of the same abatement notice.

She was fined £2,000, ordered to pay costs of £1,000 and a victim surcharge of £800.

Coun Matthew Tomlinson, South Ribble Borough Council Cabinet Member, said: “Residents should be able to live without being severely impacted by ongoing unrelenting noise nuisance.

“In this case we continued to pursue action against the person responsible, as previous attempts to resolve the issues did not result in improvement.

“This successful prosecution serves as a reminder of the need to show consideration to neighbours and that we will not hesitate to take action against those who negatively impact the lives of others.”

Walton-le-Dale woman ordered to pay £3,800 after noisy dogs left neighbours living in ‘unbearable’ situation