A LONG-RUNNING village vendetta has spiralled into violence – and claimed its first fatality.

The victim survived a kidnapping ordeal – but only hours after his safe return, someone broke into his home and strangled him.

The body of Claude the cockerel was found lying in a mangled heap in a corner of his shed by his distraught owner at the weekend.

And now, with two other cockerels still missing from Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, police are appealing for help from the public and insisted: “We are taking this very seriously.”

They believe the killer could be someone who has developed a grudge against cockerels because of the noise they make – possibly a former townie unused to country ways.

A number of cockerels have gone missing from the North Yorkshire village over the past couple of years, but a few weeks ago, three went missing over the same weekend.

Two of the birds – Liquorice and Kevin – have still not been found but Claude, an easily-recognisable Light Sussex, was spotted last week, wandering near Ripon racecourse.

His delighted owner Jane Gosney collected him and took him back to her home, Orchard House, where he was placed in darkness inside a locked shed to prevent him crowing.

But at the weekend, somebody sneaked to the shed, broke the padlock and killed the helpless bird.

“I am distraught,” said Mrs Gosney.

“I had kept him covered in a cage at night, so there was no question of noise. Someone must be obsessed.”

She said she is now putting in extra security.

“I want to catch him red-handed and hand him over to the police, I want him in court. Enough is enough.”

One local has been interviewed by police but has denied any involvement with the vendetta.

However, officers are determined to track down the killer.

“This has escalated from the removal of cockerels into something else entirely. This is burglary and a very alarming case of animal cruelty,”

said PC Gareth Jones.

“People sometimes buy houses in villages and expect the country idyll but, just as there is a certain amount of ambient noise in a town, there are also country noises to get used to.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact PC Jones at Ripon police station on 0845-60-60-247 or on mobile 07909-686508.