If the person on whom an abatement notice has been served makes default in complying with any of the requirements of the notice, or if the nuisance, although abated since the service of the notice, is, in the opinion of the local authority, likely to recur on the same premises, the authority shall cause a complaint to be made to a justice of the peace, and the justice shall thereupon issue a summons requiring the person on whom the notice was served to appear before a court of summary jurisdiction.
Where on the hearing of a complaint under this section it is proved that the alleged nuisance existed at the date of the service of the abatement notice and that at the date of the making of the complaint it either still existed or was likely to recur, then, whether or not at the date of the hearing it still exists or is likely to recur, the court shall order the defendant to pay to the local authority such reasonable sum as the court may determine in respect of the expenses incurred by the authority in, or in connection with, the making of the complaint and the proceedings before the court.
Where proceedings are brought under this section in respect of a nuisance under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section ninety-two of this Act (which relates to certain accumulations or deposits) it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the accumulation or deposit complained of was necessary for the effectual carrying on of a business or manufacture and has not been kept longer than is necessary for the purposes of the business or manufacture, and that the best practicable means have been taken for preventing it from being prejudicial to the health of, or a nuisance to, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
Where proceedings are brought under this section in respect of a nuisance under paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section ninety-two of this Act (which relates to dust or effluvia caused by any trade, business, manufacture or process), it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the best practicable means have been taken for preventing, or counteracting the effect of, the dust or effluvia.
If it appears to the court that the person by whose act or default the nuisance arises, or the owner or occupier of the premises, cannot be found, the nuisance order may be addressed to, and executed by, the local authority.