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15 hours ago
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In a village there are many things that cause neighbours to argue: differences in politics, disagreements over hedge maintenance, disputes over who will be Santa this Christmas.
In east Staffordshire, however, the battle lines have been drawn over something far more unusual. Over the past 25 years, the village of Tutbury has been the home of an ever-growing pride of peacocks and hens who some residents say destroy crops, leave large amounts of mess and whose distinctive calls can be heard at all hours of the day and night.
George, who owns a patch of land in the village’s allotment where crops are fortified to avoid being ransacked by the peacocks, says the birds are like “marmite” to the village. “The people who love them really love them, and the people that hate them really hate them,” he says.
Like the situation itself, the peacocks’ origin story is a unique one. According to residents, decades ago three peacocks were housed in Tutbury Castle, which sits on a hill overlooking the village. Who put them there and cared for them is a source of debate, but all accounts say that one day whoever fed and looked after them, for reasons unknown, stopped, causing them to scavenge for food in the village.
Some people also claimed that, possibly due to the Tutbury Castle being part of the Duchy of Lancaster, the peacocks are also technically owned by the king, hence the lack of action to control them.
The disagreements have created such a divide that many of the doors you knock on refuse to speak on the record as people try to avoid conflict with their neighbours.
Humphrey and Jackie Toon, 78 and 64, are two of only a few people in the village who feel comfortable making their feelings known publicly. The couple, lifelong residents of Tutbury, believe the peacocks don’t mean any harm and are good-natured, but have become a nuisance.
“They wake us up at half four every morning – it’s ridiculous,” says Jackie. “They stop buses, they attack cars if they see their own reflection and they poo everywhere. They could poo for England.”
Their sentiments are shared by others. One resident, who wished not to be named to avoid conflict with the peacock-loving household across the road, likened the experience of being surrounded by the birds to being trapped. “It’s like being in a zoo: they’re around you, you can’t get rid of them. It’s like you’re in the cage with them; day and night they’re there.”
They also said the constant noise from the peacocks has made it hard for he and his partner to recover from separate surgeries, and that they planned to move away from Tutbury to escape them.
The local parish and borough councils said they were aware of the issue but that neither could do much to help because that was the responsibility of “whoever owned the peacocks”.
