Environmental health officers are calling on people to keep quiet during Noise Action Week.

It runs from today until Friday and aims to encourage residents to consider the noise they make and the effect on those around them. It also promotes consideration and communication between neighbours.

In the last year Bradford Council's environmental health department received 2,350 complaints about noise.

This was broken down as 867 about domestic music, 513 about barking dogs, 178 about intruder alarms, and 140 each about industrial noise and commercial entertainment.

There are a range of powers to deal with noise problems and environmental health staff have started working in partnership with community mediation service Community Accord.

It focuses on rebuilding and maintaining good neighbourly relations and helps people communicate better with their neighbours.

In addition a total of 64 abatement notices were served and there were three instances of noise equipment being seized and three prosecutions.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council's executive member for environment and culture, said: "Noise is an unavoidable part of life but too much and the wrong kind of noise can have a damaging effect on our health and on people's lives.

"I would urge people to be considerate to their neighbours, keep noise levels to a minimum and get in touch with us or Community Accord if they are having problems."

Bradford Community Housing Trust also offers a dedicated mediation service to its tenants and last year dealt with more than 200 cases of neighbour and family disputes, including noise problems. Both the Council and BCHT's services are free.

Peter Newbould, BCHT's director of legal services, said: "Noise problems are a serious issue and can often cause upset and distress to neighbours and residents.

"Our dedicated legal, tenancy enforcement and mediation staff will follow up all complaints working in partnership with the appropriate agencies including the police and social services to ensure a satisfactory outcome for everyone involved."

BCHT tenants can report noise complains and other incidents by calling a 24-hour anti-social behaviour reporting line on (01274) 254274.

Other residents can also contact the Council's environmental health department on (01274) 434366 or at ep.admin@bradford.gov.uk.

A recent survey carried out by the Office of National Statistics shows that England and Wales have become much louder places in the last 20 years. Noise complaints have gone up nearly five-fold in this time with loud music and barking dogs the biggest irritants. One of the main reasons for this increase in complaints is thought to be the lack of communication between neighbours, according to the National Society for Clean Air.