A TEENAGE poultry enthusiast is to be told to remove his chickens from his allotment.

At its meeting this week, Barnard Castle Town Council agreed they had no choice but to ask Thom Robinson, 17, to remove the chickens from the Brittons Fields allotment after complaints from residents and allotment holders.

The council also received a complaint from Teesdale District Council after escaped chickens were found in the local cemetery.

The council meeting heard that Thom had been given time to stop the birds escaping.

He has blamed vandalism at the allotment and people feeding the chickens as the reason why the birds escape.

Councillor Anne Francis pointed to legislation that said birds could only be kept on allotments if the majority of the allotment was used for growing things. This was not the case at Thom's allotment.

The council agreed to give Thom a month to remove the birds from the allotment.