VILLAGERS have launched a petition to defend their neighbour – a crowing cockerel that was issued a noise warning.

As reported in the Echo, Simon Grant-Jones of Sutton Poyntz, had his rare breed leghorn exchequer reported to West Dorset District Council by a newcomer to the village.

The offending bird had been causing a flap for the complainant as it crowed in its home in a private allotment near Puddledock Lane.

Now Sutton Poyntz villagers are speaking up about what they say is the erosion of countryside life. More than sixty people have signed a petition to ask that no further action be taken to monitor the cockerel.

Margaret Tambling, of Sutton Road, said: “When I read Simon’s story in the Echo I was so incensed. We live in the countryside. We like to hear the noises of the pigs and the donkeys – it’s one of the joys of country life.”

Mrs Tambling collected 62 signatures at a Sutton Poyntz coffee morning on Friday to petition that no further action be taken against the cockerel.

Mrs Tambling said: “Simon has done so much for the village in his work as a blacksmith. Everybody immediately thought this was awful.

“There is just a field between us and the allotment where the cockerel is kept and we don’t have any issue with his crowing.

“These are countryside noises and a part of countryside life.”

Mr Grant-Jones said: “I am overwhelmed by the reaction to this story and the support I’ve received.

“After it was in the Echo, I had a lovely call from a lady who said to me ‘where do these people think their chicken dinners come from?’”

Local man Bill Edgerton said: “If you are going to live in the country you have got to accept countryside noises and smells.

“Sutton Poyntz likes to think of itself as a village and one of the positives of the place is the immediacy between the built up areas and the countryside. People move to the country and then complain about things that have been going on for the last 500 years.”

Councillor Geoff Petherick, brief holder for community safety at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: “The council has a legal duty to investigate noise complaints.

“This is not a gagging order and the council has not upheld the complaint or issued a noise abatement notice.

“We have a legal duty to monitor the situation and each case is dealt with on an individual basis.

“We have written to the owner of the cockerel to let him know a complaint has been made and offered him the chance to give his views about it.”