Operation Beech to run for 12 nights over Halloween and November noise ‘peak’

Noise complaints typically peak at the end of October and early November as Halloween (31 October) and Bonfire Night (5 November) bring out party spirits.

What's fun for some can turn into misery for others if the celebrations are excessively loud and run long into the night. This year, both of the key dates are followed by what for many will be a normal work day, making lost sleep doubly unwelcome.

Starting on Wednesday (30 October), University of Bristol's appeals to students to consider their neighbours will be backed by a 12-night 'blitz' of Operation Beech patrols aimed at stopping noise getting out of hand. This may be the longest block of consecutive nights since the UoB-funded police operation began in 2018.

Residents facing disruption from noise they believe to be caused by UoB students can text the Beech officers on a special number: 07773 816248. The patrol operates from 8pm to 2am.

Click here to see the full list of dates and other Beech details.

Having Beech turn up to your party is usually bad news for the students involved. The fact that Beech are present means a complaint from the public has already been logged, and since UoB pledges to investigate all complaints, disciplinary follow-up is virtually guaranteed.

The university's community-behaviour rules, which all students are contractually bound to observe, list types of misconduct including "Excessive noise or gatherings that cause a disturbance to members of the local community." In practice, that's fairly easy to prove, especially if Beech has attended and the officers have noted what's happening, along with names of those they've spoken to—information they pass to UoB at the end of their shift.

Those students who recognise that the game is up usually shut down the party and relocate themselves and their friends to a nightclub. Any who seek to ignore the Beech intervention are likely to face higher penalties if the complaint goes to adjudication.

Possible sanctions include fines of up to £250 per student or up to 20 hours of unpaid service in the university or the community.