Anti-social behaviour

children playing in the street or communal areas
young people gathering socially, unless they are being intimidating
being unable to park outside your own home
civil disputes between neighbours, for example, shared driveways
one-off parties or celebrations at reasonable times
DIY or car repairs, unless at unreasonable times

If ASB is affecting you, your family or someone you know please report this to the police in the first instance.

When you report ASB you will be asked questions about what happened, when and where it happened and by whom. This information will be used to decide whether the matter is personal, environmental or nuisance anti-social behaviour and who is the best agency to help you.

In emergencies

In an emergency always telephone 999 or textphone 18000.

In non-emergencies

Please report these incidents to your local Neighbourhood Policing Team, telephone 101 or textphone 18001 101.

Community Safety ASB team

The Council’s Community Safety ASB team are able to assist you by:

putting you in touch with other council departments or organisations that can help with your particular problem, for example, issues with noise, litter or graffiti
referring you to Victim Support
managing the ASB case review process. As part of this they can explain the process and complete an application on your behalf
coordinate a partnership approach to address ongoing ASB issues

Email [email protected]

Open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; all calls are monitored during these hours.

Victim Support

website: www.victimsupport.org.uk/help-and-support
telephone*: 020 7259 2424 (Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm)
24/7 support line*: 0808 168 9111

*Add 18001 before number if deaf or hard of hearing. An interpretation service is also available.

Environmental crime

Noise

To report noise nuisance:

telephone: 020 7361 3002
email: [email protected]

Litter

To report litter, fly-tipping or graffiti or abandoned vehicles:

telephone: 020 7361 3001
email: [email protected]

Hate crime

Hate incidents and hate crimes are acts where the offender has chosen a victim specifically because of the type of person they think they are, or perceive them to be. This could be because of disability, race or ethnicity, faith, religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

A victim does not have to be a member of the group at which the hostility is targeted. In fact, anyone could be a victim of a hate crime.

Hate crime includes:

physical and verbal attacks
vandalism and graffiti
cyberbullying
abusive text messaging and hate mail
offensive signs or gestures
threatening behaviour

These incidents can be committed against a person or property.

Hate crime is against the law. You do not have to tolerate hate crime and reporting any incident, no matter how minor can make a difference.

By reporting these incidents, you may be able to prevent them from happening again. You will also help the police understand the extent of hate crime in your local area so they can better respond to it.

How to report a hate crime

There are several ways you can report a hate crime, whether you have been a victim or a witness. You can also report a hate crime on behalf of someone else.

In an emergency

Call the police on 999

If you are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment, a textphone is available:

in an emergency, text 18000
non-emergency, text 18001 101

Remember when speaking to the police you can speak in confidence, by giving as much information as possible you are ensuring that they can investigate fully and have the ability to prosecute the offender(s) where possible.

Report online

Visit the Metropolitan Police website to report hate crime.

Crimestoppers

If you do not want to talk to the police, you can still report hate crime to Crimestoppers who can be contacted anonymously by telephone on 0800 555 111 or visit the Crimestoppers website.

Controlled drinking zone

Since June 2009, there has been a borough-wide designated Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in operation to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime.

The Controlled Drinking Zone, as it is commonly known, came into force in response to an on-going problem with street drinkers gathering in parts of the borough and causing antisocial behaviour.

Anyone who refuses to stop drinking alcohol in public or hand over their alcohol when asked, faces a fine.

It is a discretional power used by police officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), and Community Wardens that is not intended to affect residents or visitors who like to enjoy a social drink or picnic in the park.

Police and the Council continue to work with local shops and businesses to deter them from selling alcohol to known street drinkers, as well as offering outreach help and support for the boroughs most entrenched street drinkers.

For more information

contact Kensington and Chelsea’s Community Safety Team, email [email protected]
for all police emergencies telephone 999

ASB Case Review

Antisocial behaviour is any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person’s quality of life. The ASB Case Review allows you to report persistent antisocial behaviour.

Use the ASB Case Review if you have reported antisocial behaviour to the Council, police and/or a registered housing provider (social landlord) three times about separate incidents in the last six months, with the most recent incident having occurred in the last month.

Complete an ASB Case Review form

The ASB Case Review cannot be used to report general acts of crime, including hate crime. It does not replace the complaints procedures of individual organisations, or your opportunity to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman or the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), formerly the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

You will need to give details of each time you have reported the antisocial behaviour including:

the organisation you reported it to
the name of person you spoke to
an Incident Reference Number (if applicable)
date reported
information about the incident

If you need help completing this form, please contact the Community Safety Team on the telephone number below.

To use the ASB Case Review you can also write to us or call us:

Community Safety Team
Kensington Town Hall
Hornton Street
London W8 7NX

telephone: 020 7361 3000

Once you have asked for an ASB Case Review, the Council will ask the agencies involved to provide details of your complaints and actions that they have considered and taken. These agencies will review the response you have received and make recommendations on how the problem can be resolved.

You will receive acknowledgement from the Council within two working days. Within ten working days the case will be reviewed by a panel of professionals from multiple agencies. Then within twelve working days you'll be informed of the outcome and a proposed action plan if applicable.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 replaced the previous 19 powers that dealt with antisocial behaviour with 6broader powers. These new procedures allow a quicker response to antisocial behaviour.

Many of the new tools and powers can be used by both local authorities and police, while others may be available to only the police or the Council.

Criminal Behaviour Orders: Issued by the courts after conviction. The order will ban an individual from certain activities or places and require them to address their behaviour for example attending drug treatment programmes. A breach would see an individual face a maximum five-year prison term.

Crime Prevention Injunctions: Designed to nip bad behaviour in the bud before it escalates. The injunction would carry a civil burden of proof, making it quicker and easier to obtain than previous tools. For adults, breaches of the injunction may result in a fine or imprisonment. For under-18s a breach could be dealt with through curfews, supervision or detention.

Community Protection Orders: One order for local authorities to stop persistent environmental antisocial behaviour like graffiti, neighbour noise or dog fouling; and another for police and local authorities to deal with more serious disorder and criminality in a specific place such as closing a property used for drug dealing.

Police 'Direction' powers: A power to direct any individual causing or likely to cause crime or disorder away from a particular place and to confiscate related items.

Public Spaces Protection Orders: These provide local authorities with a flexible power to put in place local restrictions to address a range of antisocial behaviour issues in public places, and prevent future problems. They are intended to deal with a particular nuisance or problem in a particular area that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life, by imposing conditions on the use of that area which apply to everyone.

Closure powers: These provide the police or local authority with new, simpler, closure powers, consolidating four of the measures already available to them. This would make it easier to issue a notice temporarily to close any property, for up to 48 hours if there is, or is likely to be, a public nuisance.

The police or local authority could then apply to the magistrates’ court if they wished to extend this beyond 48 hours if the antisocial behaviour was persistent or serious. The maximum length of a closure order would be six months.

Last updated: 10 September 2024

On this page

What is anti-social behaviour?

What is not anti-social behaviour?

How to report anti-social behaviour