Constantly crowing cockerels, which ruffled feathers in a quiet residential street, have landed their owners in court.

Jorg and Jacqueline Krafft were found guilty in their absence on Tuesday for breaching a noise abatement notice served by Shepway District Council.

The court heard that after first receiving a complaint about the noise in 2013, the council tried to resolve the problem informally by writing to Mr and Mrs Krafft, of Harcourt Road, Folkestone, making them aware of the problem.

But the crowing continued and the notice was served.

In his witness statement to Canterbury Magistrates Court environmental protection officer, Wai Tse , said he visited a nearby property so that he could hear the noise for himself.

On one afternoon he heard different cockerels crowing more than 100 times in just over an hour in Mr and Mrs Krafft’s back garden.

He described the noise as clearly audible, intrusive and distracting.

Mr Tse made four more visits, the latest in May this year, when he heard or recorded crowing by up to five cockerels.

The council wrote to the couple explaining that the noise was unacceptable and advising them to comply with the noise abatement notice.

When this appeal failed, the council took the pair to court for five breaches of the notice.
Although Mr and Mrs Krafft failed to attend court they were found guilty in their absence.

Each was fined £500 for the first offence. No other penalty was imposed for the further breaches.

Each must also pay a £50 victim surcharge and £270 towards legal costs. The couple were given 21 days to appeal against their conviction and sentence.

After the case, Cllr Stuart Peall , cabinet member for the environment, said the issue of cockerels crowing might not seem significant to anyone who was not subjected to it.

He said: “In this case we felt there was a definite noise nuisance and the court agreed.

"The cockerels crowed at all times of the day sometimes up to six times a minute.

"We always like to resolve noise problems informally but we had no response from Mr and Mrs Krafft.”