"Dead chickens, half-dead chickens, chicken blood, chicken feathers, chicken urine, chicken faeces, other toxins and garbage consume the public streets," the court papers stated.

Even by the standards of the New York legal scene, the attempt to ban the traditional Jewish practice of kapporot is particularly unusual.

The ritual sees a chicken swung around the head three times in penitence in the days before Yom Kippur. The person's sins are believed to be transferred to the bird, which is then killed.

But the case brought to Manhattan Supreme Court by a group known as the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos called the tradition "barbaric".

Activists claim local streets were turned into "slaughterhouses" in the days ahead of Yom Kippur. The residents hope to sue four rabbis and several Charedi communities, as well as city authorities, to stop the practice taking place.

In court papers the lawyers said: "Ten years ago, kapporot only occurred in several small alleys and a handful of synagogue parking lots. However, every year it has increased in size and scope.

"Today, kapporot has become an overwhelming event that has spiralled out of control into a carnival-like atmosphere of bloody violence."

They said people living next door to religious families had reported seeing headless chickens running around and experienced birds screaming in terror as they were swung around.

The rabbis have not commented on the case, but the city's law department said it would review the complaint.