3 July 2012 Last updated at 08:34 ET

Donkey in Brierley noise row 'will not be destroyed'

Joseph has a tendency to bray loudly through the evening and early morning

A donkey at the centre of a noise row in South Yorkshire was never under threat, according to a council.

Barnsley Council received a complaint about the donkey from Brierley whose braying can be heard up to two miles (3.2km) away.

Villagers feared the donkey, called Joseph, could have been destroyed and set up a Facebook group to save him.

Barnsley Council said the complainant appeared to have dropped the matter and there was never a threat to the animal.

Samantha Thompson, who lives near the donkey's field, said: "He wakes me up quite often in the early hours but I am used to it having lived here for eight years."

Responsibility to investigate

She set up the Facebook group, which attracted more than 4,000 members, after being approached by a neighbour.

"They said someone might be trying to get him put down. I was quite devastated and decided to set up a Facebook group to try and get some support and it escalated from there," she explained.

Labour-run Barnsley Council said it had a responsibility to investigate noise complaints.

Roy Miller, cabinet spokesperson for development, environment and culture, said: "Officers await the return by the complainant of a diary sheet upon which they can assess whether or not the donkey is causing a statutory noise nuisance.

"Given the time that has elapsed since the complaint was made, the matter will be closed within the next few days unless the diary sheet is received."

He added there was no threat the donkey would have been destroyed whether it had posed a noise nuisance or not.