MORE people complain about seagulls in Barrow than anywhere else in Cumbria, it has been revealed.

A total of 188 complaints have been reported in Barrow over the last three years, with the majority being about noise and droppings.

However, 28 complaints involved "attacks" and there was one recorded instance of a person being injured by a gull.

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Across 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16, 32 locals in Copeland complained about seagulls.

Earlier this year, Royal Mail officials confirmed that a postwoman in Maryport was unable to deliver mail there because of swooping gulls.

<strong>Financial cost</strong>


A Freedom of Information request found Barrow Borough Council has spent £500 on an education campaign, advising residents on how to deter nuisance behaviour by the birds.

Across the county, almost £50,000 has been spent on protecting residents from seagulls, including £15,729 in Carlisle in 2013 on gull-proof refuse sacks, a scheme some have called to be adopted in Barrow.

Experts say that the birds are being driven to urban areas by a combination of overfishing at sea and the easy availability of food which gulls are using to raise their chicks.

<strong>Deliberate harm</strong>

There has also been a rise in the number of seagulls being deliberately injured, with some of them being shot in the most extreme cases.

Staff at the Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Centre say they have had hundreds of injured gulls brought in over the last year from across the county.

Emma Scott, from the centre, said: "Gulls are being driven away from their natural habitats by overfishing: the kind of fishing that hoovers up everything on the sea bed.

"Once an area of seabed has been fished to that extent it takes years to recover.

"As far as the gulls are concerned, towns and cities offer what look like good cliffs for nesting on – the rooves of buildings; and there's a plentiful supply of food.

"A seagull won't be bothered whether it's pizza or chips.

"Most of the complaints about gulls are made during the six to eight weeks of their nesting season, in the summer, when their babies fall off roofs and the adult birds get very distressed if people approach them."

Advice to keep seagulls away

- Recycle food waste properly

- Only throw out waste that can't be recycled

- Don't leave black bin sacks outside bins

- Recycle properly to make room or take the rubbish to your nearest waste and recycling centre