Late night complaints system to be launched

Angry citizens who spot a tree being illegally felled or are deafened by rowdy parties will soon have someone to complain to at night.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is planning an out of hours service that will run on a six month trial - enabling people to report  unauthorised tree felling, breaches of planning conditions, dangerous structures or late night noise.

If the plan is agreed by cabinet members on Thursday, residents will be able to contact experienced officers at night by calling a control room. Officers could then come out to attend specific incidents.

The officers will man the control room on a rota basis, receiving a standby allowance plus full or time-and-a-half overtime for any call-outs.

An estimated 50 to 100 calls a year are anticipated with an annual cost of about £16,500.

The initial pilot scheme will run from January to June.