A FORMER gangster turned actor has outraged his neighbours after his pet peacock escaped from its 12ft-high enclosure.
The elusive bird, which has been running wild through locals' gardens for six weeks, has been keeping locals up all night.
Celebrity David Courtney built a special 12-foot-high fence enclosure for the bird after being gifted it, and was told: "All you have to do is feed it and look after it and it will never fly away".
However, seconds after bringing the new pet home it flew out of the roofless coop – with Dave not realising the exotic bird could fly.
At present, the peacock is ruling the roost with neighbours in South East London being woken up at 4am with his mating call.
The bright blue-and-green bird has appeared on top of people’s roofs, cars and gardens after escaping last month.
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Some of the residents were cautious about talking.
However, one, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Yeah I’ve heard it every morning, it’s a nightmare.
“But I’m not saying nothing more.”
Another anonymous neighbour said: “He didn’t realise a bird could fly? Wow.”
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A neighbour a few doors up the road said: “Jeepers they can fly alright, I haven’t seen anything but I’ll look out for it.
“If Dave wants me to catch it, I may give it a go, but you can also spook them doing that.
“I know this because I used to have one.”
The film star said he had the best intentions with the bird and didn’t mean to upset locals.
He said: “I spent 30 years being nice to people on this street and all it’s taken is one cock to have messed it up."
Britney De Faria, 21, who works in recruitment, has lived up the road from Dave on Chestnut Rise for few months.
And the peacock has been visiting her garden regularly.
She said: “The first time it came to the garden it was a shock, for the past couple of days it’s been in the area.
“It’s been amazing, we’ve been giving it food but usually it’s up on the roof, so we feed it when we can.”
The 63-year-old peacock owner, took to social media and offered a £100 reward to anyone who can catch the bird.
He said: “We haven’t got it back yet, I’ve ran up and down the road so many times trying to catch it I’ve worn my bloody shoes out.
“I got it a cage with 12ft walls. The pen must have been about 40ft by 20 ft.
“And it just hopped onto my roof and now I can’t get the f***er, It p****d me right off when it flew away.
“I bought all the peacock food and all that, then it walked around for about a minute and just shot off.
“It may seem stupid to say, but I had no idea it could fly.”
Some of Dave’s neighbours have been feeding the animal as it visited their homes along his road.
He said: “Several neighbours have been feeding it, so it’s alive and growing, the neighbours are loving it.
“Well, half of them are hating me…but when I catch it, I’ll take it to a sanctuary.
“It’s had me running up and down the road three times a day, my neighbours keep ringing me with sightings so I’ve got to show my face each time.”
The notorious neighbour has tried a range of techniques for catching the bird.
But each time he gets close to try and catch it with a large fishing net, the bird keeps escaping him.
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“I’ve tried the mating call for the peacock, it’s an app with the mating call on it, but that doesn’t seem to work either.
Wearing a long black coat, black loafers and dark sunglasses, he said he thought it would have been good to have at his parties.
He said: “The peacock it’s beautiful, I thought it would look quite cool at one of my parties.
“But this thing can have a row, it’s running out on to the road and pecking peoples cars etc.
“So it may not be the best party guest.
“Apparently Greenwich wildlife is going to set traps and try to catch it.”
The actor, who starred in a string of gangster movies including The Dead Sleep Easy and Clubbing To Death, said he sees the bird around his home, named Camelot Castle, in Plumstead, South East London at least twice a day.
Dave previously told The Evening Standard: “I didn’t know they could fly. I thought it was like a chicken or something.
“He's stunning but it seems like he would rather live 20 doors up. He keeps jumping from garden to garden dodging all the foxes.
He can handle himself. He’s Dave Courtney’s peacock after all!
“I’ve got a giant fisherman’s keep net but he’s like a footballer he keeps swerving me.
“It doesn’t have to run away the size of its claws it could really hurt you. It’s become a local celebrity in his own right.
“We are trying our hardest to catch it. The man who gave it to me said ‘All you got to do is feed it and look after it and it will never fly away’.”
He told his neighbours: “I’m sorry for the inconvenience when I do actually catch him I will be giving him to a sanctuary. But I have been very touched by how everyone has looked after him.”
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He has made an appeal to his 19,500 followers on Instagram, saying: "Right everyone – I cannot BEAR the loss of my beloved peacock, and I know he is causing so much chaos to my neighbours (must be mine then.!)
"To that end, I am offer £100 to anyone who catch and return the peacock to me! I’ve had a go and it’s eluding me, so let someone else try!"
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