Feed The Birds

Great Yarmouth Borough Council are considering implementing fines to combat the rising gull issue in the town.

A report to the committee states, over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of gull-related complaints to the council.

Figures show complaints more than doubled over twelve months, with 33 reports made in 2018 while this year the figure has risen to 80.

The summer months saw the most complaints; there were 15 in May, 25 in June and 18 in July.

Just over 80% of the complaints were from people informing the council of their neighbour feeding the gulls and attracting them to residential areas, where the birds defecate on cars and laundry and their squawking keeps residents in some parts of the borough awake at night.

The council will also look into the use of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) and Community Protection Warning Notices (CPW) for people feeding gulls in the market place and across the borough.