A couple are seeking to overturn a council order following a neighbour dispute over their crowing cockerels.

Keith and Heather Worsfold were served with an abatement notice by South Norfolk Council on November 10 last year.

It followed complaints from neighbours about noise from their property on Low Road in the village of Wortwell, near Harleston.

The couple, aged 49 and 48, appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court as part of an appeal against the order which seeks to restrict the disturbance caused by the birds. 

Councils have the power to serve an abatement notice for statutory nuisances, including excessive noise, that require whoever’s responsible to stop the activity or limit it to certain times.

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The court was told the couple had been working with environmental officers to try to limit disruption to neighbours.

They told Deputy District Judge Lisa Towell the notice was not justified and that they had “taken all reasonable steps” to alleviate the problem.

The couple argued the description of their cocks were causing a nuisance to the neighbourhood was inaccurate, saying they intended to call 17 witnesses.

The appeal will be heard on November 7.