Council ‘swoops in’ to rescue Bury St Edmunds residents

Residents who saw Christmas and the New Year in with a bang – and a bang and a bang – have praised a council for ‘flying’ to their rescue.

For more than two weeks, people living in Westley Road, Starre Road, Maltward Avenue, Bockhill, Wigston and the south-western side of Bury St Edmunds had been waking up long before the cockerel crowed.

A farmer’s bird scarer, incorrectly set by two and a half hours, had been going off at 5.30am.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s public health and housing team were able to resolve the issue on Friday after tracing the noise back to the farmer, which ‘was not a simple task and took a few days’.

“Eventually the offending beast was ‘trapped and ringed’ and us residents were able snuggle into our ‘nests’ just a bit longer,” said Ed Smith, of Westley Road.

A council spokesman said: “Our customer services team handles all manner of noise complaints from car alarms, house parties, buskers and the occasional bird scarer. Being in a rural area, this type of noise complaint is not uncommon especially around this time of year when farmers are seeding.”