Whether he is pining for company, calling for an early breakfast or just has a mean streak, the visitor is not about to let his presence go unnoticed.

From his roosting place in a large fir tree, his distinctive cry — louder than a cockerel's but with even less melody — begins at 4 am and sometimes goes on all day.

Mr Harry Davie, who lives in one of five houses in the cul-de-sac said, “At 4 o’clock it starts screeching and it’s fair to say everyone is awake straight away.

“We’ve tried everything, and no one is able to help us. So it seems we’re stuck with it until it decides to move on again.

“It runs about as if it owns the place and as well as the noise, it leaves its droppings everywhere — we’re at our wits end with the thing.”

Mrs Martha Davie added, “People might think it’s nice and romantic to have such a beautiful bird wandering about, but the reality is so different.

“With the hot weather we’ve had, we’ve wanted to leave the windows open, but can’t because of the noise — and then we can’t sleep because of the heat.

“It’s bad enough that it wakes us at that time of the morning, and then we look out and it’s made a mess of the garden and eaten all my flowers — it seems to like the fuschia the best.

“We’ve not offered it food or any encouragement to stay around, but there must be some sort of attraction for it. There’s no way we would do anything cruel to get rid of it, but there are times early in the morning when I’ve imagined getting my hands round its neck, I have to admit.”

The Davies have contacted everyone they can think of to get the peacock removed, but without success.

A spokeswoman for the RSPB said peacocks are domestic birds, and therefore, fall outwith their remit.

She said, “Ultimately, it belongs to someone, so the residents will have to find out where it has come from and try and return it.

“Hopefully it is not just an owner who has become tired of it and decided to release it, as that would be highly irresponsible — they may be able it survive in the wild, but they don’t belong there.”

A spokesman for Perth and Kinross council said, “We have advised that, unfortunately, the council has no powers to take action in these circumstances. However, the Davies have the right under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act to seek a hearing at the District Court, if the ownership of the bird can first be established.

“We suggested that they may wish to make an appeal locally to the public for any information about the bird’s owner or where it may have come from.”