A legal battle between a council and an animal charity regarding noisy geese and cockerels has been dropped.

Amey James, who runs Happy Pants Ranch, off Iwade Road in Bobbing, has been contesting Swale council over an animal noise abatement order for the last two years.

The issue began in April 2021 when complaints were made about the sanctuary's birds.

It comes after the rescue centre – a home for about 350 unwanted or abandoned animals from cows, dogs, ducks and sheep to goats, parrots and pigs – moved from its previous base at Yelsted, to its new 20-acre site.

The ranch was asked to stop allowing animals on the land "to make an unreasonable level of noise” by Swale council or face being slapped with a £2,500 fine.

In November last year, Amey and a colleague attended Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court to appeal the order.

The prosecutor told the bench that a whole day would be needed for the hearing due to the number of witnesses who would be brought before them.

As a result, the case was adjourned until 10am on March 17 at Maidstone Magistrates' Court.

However, the hearing did not take place and Swale council has confirmed the appeal has since been withdrawn.

Speaking after the decision Amey, who began running the charity from her semi-detached home in Rainham, said: "After lengthy talks with my solicitor I had two options.

"Option one was to continue with the appeal. There was a good possibility of winning the appeal but if we lost, the charity would have been liable for the council's legal costs which they estimated to be around £10,000.

"On top of that there would have also been the costs of the appeal hearing, which were to be around £5,000 and any fines imposed by the court to a maximum of £5,000."

Knowing that type of money would have been detrimental to the charity Amey began negotiations with Swale council.

She said: "In negotiating with the council, through a series of calls and emails, they agreed to drop all costs if the appeal was abandoned and the original charges accepted.

"Again negotiations took place and it was agreed that we would accept abandoning the appeal if the charges were dropped to just the one charge of animals making too much noise and that any other charges relating to noise were removed. This was agreed.

"So, as much as I wanted the appeal against the noise abatement order, it has been abandoned and the courts have accepted the application.

"This means it has potentially saved the charity around £20,000 in court costs. It was just a risk we couldn’t afford to take financially."

Amey confirmed that following the decision the courts will now decide whether a hearing is required for the breach of the noise abatement order or if it will be decided based on evidence submitted by both parties.

She added: "This will most likely come by way of a fine, and possible remedial action - we have to just wait, see and pray.

"Basically I was stuck between a rock and a very hard place and I’m not usually good at ignoring my heart and going with my head, but this is what I was affixed to do by someone who knows a lot more about this stuff than I ever will.

"I just hope with all my heart that any action ordered is minimal as we’ve all tried so hard to cooperate with the council.

"I know in my heart that what the Happy Pants Ranch does is a wonderful thing."

Swale council declined to comment any further.