A noisy peacock is in a small town by climbing on roofs, pecking on windows and tearing up vegetable patches.
The bird, named Percy by locals, wakes up residents in Marlborough, Wiltshire, at around 5am every day with a “raucous” bellowing before searching for food.
In one case, he destroyed a garden while enjoying a breakfast of lettuce, runner beans and other vegetables, according to residents.
“It is quite vocal. People do find it gets them up about half past five in the morning with quite a raucous sound,” Eric Gilbert told the BBC.
“I found it in the middle of my lettuce patch, having a breakfast of my lettuce leaves,” he said. “It [also] likes my runner beans”.
The “annoying” bird has also taken to knocking on windows and doors and has been seen facing down cats and pigeons.
Neighbour Angela Newberry added: “Very early in the morning, he taps on the window for food. He’s very annoying, because he’s got no snooze button.”
In one video, Percy could be seen walking on top of the roof of a detached house before calling out three times early in the morning.
In February, a cockerel owner was ordered to pay more than £3,000 after neighbours repeatedly complained about his unruly cockerel’s constant crowing.
Officials from North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) attended the address in New Tupton with specialist monitoring equipment and found the bird crowed 76 times in 50 minutes between 5.53am to 6.43am.
It followed a previous investigation which saw equipment installed at the property, which found the frequency of the crowing was “excessive” and continued in high numbers without the day.
Speaking to the BBC, one female neighbour who wished to remain anonymous said: “A nuisance, a nightmare, early hours of the morning, crowing. And when you want to sleep at that time of the morning you don’t need it.”
She added the noise from the bird wasn’t restricted to the morning. “Sometimes it’s all day. And I don’t think it’s right,” she said.
Speaking outside court, Mr Brown disputed the complaints made by the neighbours against Brutus. The 82-year-old said: “My cockerel does not make a lot of noise, he wears a neck collar which restricts the wind pipe and he can’t suck in that amount of air to crow, he croaks, it’s a croak.