Nuisance

In deciding whether a service provider was entitled to the defence of statutory authority it was first necessary to identify the nature and the scope of the particular obligations imposed on that service provider and secondly it was necessary to consider the balance between its commercial imperatives with its obligations to the wider public.

Moreover, an activity should not be permitted by one set of specific rules (derived from detailed legislation), yet at the same time give rise to a liability to a third party by reference to the much more general set of principles to be derived from the common law.