THE noise of a crowing cockerel has split the normally quiet village of Hullavington.

The rift appeared after Rocky the rooster was officially branded a noise nuisance and was given its marching orders by North Wiltshire District Council.

Villager Patrick Gibbs complained to the council saying that he, his wife Zena and daughter Helene, 21, had being woken at 5am every morning for four months by Rocky crowing from a garden in neighbouring Watt Lane.

Mr Gibbs, 55, of Blicks Close, who has lived in Hullavington for 12 years, said: "We have suffered terribly with the noise. The cockerel was just a couple of meters from my daughter's window.

"I woke up at 5am one morning to go to work and it was still crowing at 7.30am. It went on for 12 hours a day.

"I know we should expect farmyard noises living in the country but we don't live right next to a farm, and I feel I should not need to put up with the equivalent of a double decker bus revving up in our back garden."

Owner Alison Ayliffe, 66, who has since found a new home for Rocky at a farm in nearby Sherston, was shocked to be told that the bird's morning chorus was causing ruffled feathers in the village, which has a population of 1,160.

She said: "I took a straw poll of the local neighbours and nobody seemed to be against it."

Mrs Ayliffe, who moved to Hullavington 18 months ago to be closer to her son and grandchildren, added: "A friend was going to put him in the pot so I thought we would rescue him. We built a run and bought some hens. The children loved him and they used to come and feed him."

Mr Gibbs said that he had never been asked if a cockerel would disturb him and first complained of the noise in April after it had been in the yard for a couple of weeks.

Mr Gibbs said: "My daughter had to go to university two weeks early because the noise was so intolerable she couldn't study for her dissertation."

The council measured the pen that housed Rocky as only 2.4 metres from the window of Mr Gibbs' property.

Using sound measuring devices, an environmental officer found that levels were above the ambient level acceptable on a residential property.

Mrs Ayliffe said her grandchildren are missing Rocky since the rooster moved to Cowlease Farm, Sherston.

Her son Greg said: "We try and see Rocky on the farm regularly. My two-year-old, Louis, is really missing him; he keeps asking 'Where's Rocky?'" After she discovered that there was a problem with the rooster, Mrs Ayliffe said that she had tried to quieten him.

She said: "After I heard there were complaints I was very nervous. I would run out with some paper and a blanket when Rocky crowed to try and quieten him."

In August, after further complaints from Mr Gibbs, the council wrote a letter to Mrs Ayliffe.

She said: "The council gave me seven days to move Rocky so I asked everyone if they had a room to house him and after five days I found him a home."

Since Rocky has been moved, the council has been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from angry residents who say that the cockerel should stay.

Linda Hadley, of Blicks Close, said: "This is a rural village and there is a farm next door with cows and other animals making noises.

"I was one of the ones who phoned the council. I was annoyed that they acted on one complaint without asking anyone else if they were disturbed by the cockerel."

Residents who complained about the removal of Rocky received a letter from an environmental officer explaining the council's actions.

A spokesman for the council confirmed that they had received complaints about the cockerel.

He said: "An officer visited Mrs Ayliffe and informed her that the cockerel might have to be moved if it was determined that it was causing a noise nuisance.

"It was suggested that re-locating the animal would prevent the noise nuisance.

"A visit to the site substantiated that the animal was indeed causing a noise nuisance as stated by the complainant. However, the owner had, by this time, already voluntarily removed the animal and therefore the noise nuisance no longer existed."

The council also defended its action to have Rocky removed.

"The district council is required to take action, even if there is only one complaint and therefore North Wiltshire District Council has acted fairly in this matter, which has been resolved by voluntary action from the owner," the spokesman said.

Although Rocky may never return to Hullavington, Mrs Ayliffe is considering his replacement.

She said: "We have ponds prepared and are thinking of getting ducks, they are much quieter."

cramos@newswilts.co.uk