Cockerel crowing sparks complaints over fowl play

A row has broken out in a village over the noise made by a cockerel.

Sue Farthing has always wanted to live in the countryside, and since moving to Aldeby, in Norfolk - just across the River Waveney from Suffolk - she has taken in a number of chickens, including the cockerel.

But following complaints made to South Norfolk Council, she has received a letter threatening her with a community protection order over the noise.

Some villagers have rallied around her in support with a petition, but the council said: "This is unreasonable and persistent, and accordingly the owners of the cockerel have received a formal warning which, if acted on appropriately, will be the end of the matter."

Farthing, 58, said she was met by a chicken in her front garden 18 months ago and decided to rescue it.

She then started rescuing more hens, and was unaware she had taken in a cockerel - which she named Colonel - until it started crowing at four months old.

"I just love my chickens. They come in, they are friendly and they make me smile," she said.

"They follow me around the garden in the summer, help me do the gardening and dig up all the plants."

In August, she received a letter from the council after one of her neighbours complained that the noise from the bird was affecting their mental health.

She was told to keep the bird quiet until 08:00.

"I was shocked. Obviously it's a very, very rural community and I was surprised the neighbour didn't come to me directly," Farthing said.

"We are a very close knit community. Everyone helps each other out.

"I thought it was disproportionate to go straight to the council."

She said she had done everything she could to minimise the noise, including blacking out the coop and making sure the birds were not let out until after 08:00.

However, last week she received another letter, threatening her with a community protection order following more complaints.

According to the council, the notice is designed to stop ongoing environmental anti-social behaviour which has a "harmful, persistent and detrimental effect" on people in the area.

She said: "I have empathy for the neighbour who feels upset by my cockerel's behaviour but I do feel like the council could have encouraged us to mediate between us."

Typically, she said the bird crowed around dawn and three or four times during the day, and replied to a fellow cockerel down the road.

However, she claimed the noise had "dramatically reduced", and she has started a petition which has collected more than 500 signatures of support.

She said: "We have all sorts of country sounds... A cockerel is an iconic sound of the countryside, in my view and my neighbours' views.

"There's nothing I can do to stop him crowing during the daytime... It is a natural thing for them to crow and there is nothing I can do about that."

One neighbour, Heather Manthorpe, who has lived in the countryside all her life, said she could hear the bird crowing only when she was outside.

The 86-year-old said: "They are noises of the countryside. You hear the deer at night, you hear the foxes – they are all part of it. You can't live in complete silence. The only place that's silent is the cemetery."

South Norfolk Council said it had a legal duty to investigate complaints from all sources, including cockerels.

"We engaged early with the owner of the cockerel and gave advice about how to reduce the impact of noise from crowing on surrounding neighbours," it said.

"Unfortunately, further complaints were received, and evidence provided which demonstrates that crowing coinciding with daybreak can be heard very clearly within the complainant's home."

It advised people affected by cockerel crowing to approach the owner in the first instance to seek a resolution, and said owners should keep their birds in coops that are kept dark until after 08:00 to prevent them crowing as the sun rises.

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