A BARRY boy with autism who keeps chickens at his home faces having to give up his feathered friends after a neighbour's noise complaint resulted in council action.

John Montgomery lives with his parents in Ffordd Cwm Cidi in the town.

He has kept chickens at his home for more than ten years - since his primary school days.

The chickens are bantams - a small breed, help keep slugs under control in John's garden.

"Earlier this month I took John away on holiday for two weeks," John's dad Rupert said.

"Like many other people it was our first trip away for nearly two years.

"Unfortunately, while we were away fox got in one night and killed half of them, leaving only four still surviving.

"The fox attack sent them in a frenzy in the early hours of the morning and the noise alerted neighbours."

However, Mr Montgomery said that someone had since complained to Vale Council about the noise.

Days later John’s mother Zoe received a visit from an environmental health official.

Mr Montgomery says the official did not introduce herself by name, "but briefly waved a council ID card at my wife, for whom English is a second language".

"Not content with just one visit the first official accompanied by a second
returned to investigate the 'crime' even further," Mr Montgomery said.

He said the officials have told the family that they must remove the birds within the week.

"I can only comment about the total lack of proportionality which makes the removal of his small chickens from a disabled boys garden a priority greater then some more pressing issues of which there are many," Mr Montgomery said.

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesperson said: “Officers working for Shared Regulatory Services, on behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, have checked on the welfare of birds at this address and also responded to reports relating to noise.

"We are working constructively with the owner towards a satisfactory resolution on both counts.”