Crowing cockerel is handed an evening curfew by a court

A cockerel threatened with an anti-social behaviour order has been handed a night-time curfew.

The deal was agreed at Scottish Borders District Court as it met to discuss the fate of Charlie - a four-year-old bird from Selkirk.

Neighbours had raised a court action against the cockerel's owners in a bid to curb its early morning crowing.

Charlie will now have to be kept in lightproof accommodation between specified hours every night.

Last year Scottish Borders Council applied to Selkirk Sheriff Court for an anti-social behaviour order on the bird.

The bird's owner, Kenneth Williamson, has been warned that failure to observe the curfew would be dealt with severely. "To breach an order to allow the cockerels out within these times would be the subject of criminal proceedings," said JP Andrew Bramhall.