Cockerel served with an Asbo after complaint from anonymous neighbour
It is just after 6am in the tiny Norfolk village of Aldeby, and something is missing.
As the sun rises over the fields, the countryside should be ringing with birdsong and a cockerel’s crow.
Instead, Colonel is silent.
His owner, artist Sue Farthing, now has a week to work out how to stop him crowing, or he could be seized.
She received a formal warning from South Norfolk Council telling her there had been complaints from an anonymous neighbour.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
Under the Community Protection Notice, she must keep him quiet until 8am and if the council is not satisfied, police can seize Colonel and his neck would be, quite literally, on the line.
Sue said that Colonel crows once in the early morning and then a couple of times during the day.
But after the unknown neighbour said their mental health had been impacted by his noise, that has to come to an end.
Sue has started locking him in his coop overnight and blacked out the windows.
Sue said: ‘I found it really improved the situation. But cockerels have a natural body clock and can crow briefly before sunrise.’
Her next move is to build a soundproof ‘bunker’ around the coop and after a second warning letter last week she has asked for more time.
A petition calling on the council to halt action against Colonel has been signed by more than 600 people.
Many supporters said they wanted to protect the area’s rural character.
Sue moved to Aldeby, a village of around 400 residents, three years ago.
She said the landscape was alive with muntjac deer, owls and cattle.
She began keeping chickens as pets 18 months ago after rescuing one bird.
She said she did not realise Colonel was a cockerel until he began crowing months later.
‘I kept him to keep my seven hens in order’, she said. ‘He’s a lovely character and helps protect them from foxes.’
Sue said she rehomed other cockerels because they crowed far more frequently.
‘I’m a law-abiding citizen,’ she said. ‘To have an ASBO threatened against me and Colonel is out of proportion.
‘You don’t move to the countryside and expect people to get rid of animals.’
A spokesman for South Norfolk Council said officers had engaged early with the owner.
He said advice had been given to reduce the impact of noise on neighbours.
‘Further complaints were received, supported by evidence,’ the spokesman said. The crowing can be heard very clearly within the complainant’s home.
‘It is considered unreasonable and persistent, and a formal warning has been issued. If acted on appropriately, this will be the end of the matter.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.