They're no longer biding their time. The peacock revolution has begun:

A group of peacocks which began attacking scores of cars after years of peaceful coexistence are to be rounded up to stop them damaging the vehicles any further.

"It's like having a crowd of locusts descend. As soon as the first colour began to show through on my begonias the peacocks came and ate the lot. I also planted a bed of parsley, but when my wife went out to pick some to go with fish for tea there were only a couple of battered sprigs left."

Hadley Tudor, who runs the local B&B, said: "The birds wake us up with a terrible din at 4.30am and have eaten all our runner beans and pansies. They would be better off in a stately home."

Jackie Collins, who works in the village shop, added: "They are really noisy, especially in the breeding season, and cause an awful lot of damage to vegetation. They also wander around in the road and are a hazard to themselves and drivers."