The owner of a second-hand record shop in Hackney has declared he will take the local council to court over a noise enforcement notice, which he alleges was based on bogus complaints.
Dispute over summer day parties
Rob Smith launched his store, Recycle Vinyl, near Dalston's Kingsland High Street in late 2024. Facing a significant downturn in sales, he decided to organise a series of daytime music events last summer to attract customers.
However, after the first event on 28 June 2025, Hackney Council received multiple noise complaints. This led the authority, alongside the Metropolitan Police, to block a subsequent event planned for 19 July 2025, for which permission had already been granted.
The council's Environmental Health team and police objected to the use of a DJ sound system in the shop's backyard, fearing further disturbances. Even a proposal to host a 'silent disco' in the space was rejected by the Met.
A 'nonsense' campaign and a formal notice
The council subsequently served Smith with a noise abatement order. This is a formal notice used when a statutory nuisance is believed to exist. Non-compliance can be a prosecutable offence, with potential fines of up to £40,000 for business premises or the seizure of equipment.
Smith has fiercely contested the order, demanding its withdrawal. He asserts the complaints were "mainly fake" and part of a coordinated campaign orchestrated by one individual neighbour, which he says has harmed his business.
His belief was strengthened in July when a resident showed him WhatsApp messages from a local group chat. These messages, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, appear to show one person urging neighbours to complain about a planned event five days before it even happened.
Court battle looms as council stands firm
Despite Smith providing this evidence to the council, officials have refused to retract the noise abatement notice. A Hackney Council spokesperson stated the order "was not served lightly" and that the authority will defend any legal appeal.
"The whole scenario was a nonsense and now it's guaranteed we will be going to court for this," Smith told reporters. He added that while he has abandoned event plans to focus on record sales, he is still paying rent on a licensed space he cannot fully use.
Appeals against such orders are heard in magistrates' court. The council confirmed it received noise complaints from 11 households following the June event, justifying its intervention to mitigate the impact on neighbours while supporting Hackney's vibrant nightlife.
