NORTH Durham councillors hope a successful prosecution against a resident who failed to stop his dogs' incessant barking disturbing neighbours will serve as a warning to others.

The man, from Blackhill near Consett, was prosecuted at Durham Magistrates' Court for failing to quieten his dogs during a period of 18 months.

The council decided to prosecute after a "huge" increase in the number of complaints to Derwentside District Council about noise levels during the past ten years.

A council spokesman said the man pleaded guilty to failing to take suitable steps to reduce the level of noise from dogs on his property and to causing a nuisance to neighbours. He was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £100.

Neighbours had complained to the council that they had been disturbed by the barking of the dogs, which were kept in the house while he was away from home.

Councillor Neil Gregory, a member of Derwentside council's public services committee, said: "This case indicates the council's determination to deal with residents who persist in causing noise nuisance to their neighbours and should serve as a warning to others who have little or no regard for the effects of their actions."

Norris Oyston, private sector housing and environmental health manager at the council, who has worked at the department for 30 years, said that there had been a dramatic increase in the number of complaints about noise levels in the last decade.

He said: "It's rare for us to actually prosecute anyone for this. Usually, serving a notice that we will prosecute is enough. We hope this will serve as an example to people that we will prosecute if we have to and they should not just ignore our notices.

"The number of complaints we have received has been static in the last couple of years, but there was a huge increase in the years before that.

"Whether that is down to people simply being more aware that we can do something about it, or people being less considerate generally, is hard to say."

Mr Oyston said the peak year for complaints was 1997 to 1998 when 180 complaints were received. The number of complaints had risen steadily in the years before that, but are no longer available. The number of complaints about noise received in 1998 to 1999 and 1999 to 2000 fell to 140 and 145 respectively