YORK residents who are being plagued by noise nuisance can now make complaints to the council by text, in a new initiative.

City of York’s Environmental Protection Unit can be contacted by text between 9pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights, and will call back and offer advice, possibly arranging a visit if necessary.

In 2010-2011, the unit received 2,309 noise complaints, 1,247 of which were taken by the night-shift Noise Patrol.

The figure was up 19 per cent on the previous year.

The complaints, many of which were made late at night, led to 79 noise abatement notices and 12 prosecutions and subsequent seizures of noisy equipment.

Anyone who needs to register a complaint about noise on Friday or Saturday nights should text their names and contact numbers to 01904 551555. This is possible even on a mobile with no credit.