Street like a scene from a horror film
A group of residents in a Stirling caravan park dubbed themselves the ‘Gull-ible Five’ after a two-year battle to rid themselves of a flock of unruly seabirds.
The people, living in the Abbey Road site, in Riverside, said that their lives had been made a living hell by the seagulls, which were nesting on the roof of a neighbouring factory.
And they said the situation had become so bad they couldn’t even let children play outside for fear they would be attacked by the angry birds.
John and Lily Dawson, pictured above, said the situation had become intolerable with constant noise, mess and the fear of being dive-bombed at any time.
Mrs Dawson and her husband, who were both 92, said they were forced to stay indoors in the summer months when the nesting birds were at their most active.
Mrs Dawson said: “The noise is horrific, but the muck is sickening, there are at least 30 to 40 seagulls nesting on the roof of the place next door.
“We can’t let our grandchildren play outside when they visit for fear they will be attacked. A man was attacked two years ago when he got too close to a baby gull, and we can’t take the risk.
“Eating outside is a no-go and I can’t even hang our washing out as, as soon as you hang it, you have to bring it in and wash it again.”
Her husband added: “It’s a health hazard. Outside our caravan is often thick with bird droppings, I have to wash my car every day.”
The seagulls were attracted to the roof of the neighbouring factory and shop for Recyke-a-bike.
The charitable company, which recycles old bicycles and sells them on to fund training its employees and promoting exercise and healthy lifestyles, rented the building from the Ogilvie Group, and sympathises with its neighbours, but it says preventing the birds nesting is costly and outwith their budget.
The gulls nested on the roof because it had asbestos in it, which provides good insulation for them, but made tackling the issue even harder.
Another neighbour said: “We cannot sleep at night because of the noise. The birds seems to like the roof on my caravan better than any of the others as it’s slightly higher up. If there is more than one bird on the roof, it sounds like I’m being bombed.
“Every other day we are washing our cars, doors and windows. We can’t even have our windows open wide when it is warm for fear of the birds doing the toilet in our homes, it’s a nightmare.”
And a man also living in Riverside likened the presence of the swooping gulls to scenes from the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds.
Recyke-a-bike boss Sandy Mohamet said: “We are sympathetic with the issue and we are concerned.
“The pressure seems to be put on individual organisations or businesses to take action which does not address the bigger problem.
“All we can do is take measures to move the birds on, but then they become someone else’s issue. There needs to be a strategic plan by Stirling Council and local authorities across Scotland to deal with seagulls.”