For the particularly proud country dweller perhaps, having a cockerel quintet who make their raucous dawn squawks 74 times in seven minutes might be something to crow about.

But not for the neighbours of Roy and Valerie Rylands.

Their complaints that the noise wakes them as early as 2.30am were placed before magistrates yesterday.

Neighbour Roger Morgan called in council noise abatement officials, who logged the farmyard five-piece crowing 112 times in 20 minutes and 74 times in a seven-minute period.

The council officer ordered the Rylands to keep their birds quiet after agreeing that the crowing was intrusive, incessant and would disturb sleep.

But the Rylands, of Bwlch-y-ffridd, near Newtown, mid Wales, went to court to appeal against the ruling.

Jonathan Salmon, for Powys county council, told magistrates in Welshpool yesterday: ‘Its very easy to be flippant about it but that doesn’t do justice to any party in these proceedings.


‘The council receive a number of complaints each year about crowing cockerels. One might say they are the rural equivalent of the burglar alarm that keeps going off in the night.

‘The issue is whether noise amounting to a statutory nuisance has existed at these premises.’

Mr Rylands, 67, and his 69-year-old wife have 106 acres and keep 55 hens and five cockerels named Boris (after London mayor Boris Johnson), Barack Obama, Jet, Rusty and John.

Outside court, he said: ‘We are running a farm. We’ve had hens for years. If we don’t win this, we will be put out of business. The only way to stop them crowing is to eat them.’






Source: Dailymail