Pigeon cull suggested to reduce danger of slips

Pigeons are drawn to Thirsk market place daily by food dropped on the ground and left in bins.

As a result, they perch in the market square and their excrement falls to the ground.

Councillor Alan Morton, speaking at a meeting of Thirsk Town Council, said someone could slip in it and be hurt.

He said: "In many parts of the market square, it is slippery with slime due to pigeon excrement.

"Could we have a cull to clear them as health and safety is important?

"I know this will make some people angry, but people could slip over because of it."

Other town council members agreed there was a problem, but felt they should approach Hambleton District Council's environmental health unit.

Alan Scargill, the environment enforcement officer for the district, said: "Unfortunately, pigeons are something we have to live with.

"The problem is... nature takes its course, causing a mess.

"We would never look at culling as an answer to the problem.

Instead we ask people to put netting up to stop pigeons landing.

"There is also an issue with people feeding the pigeons, and we have put posters up about this."

The RSPCA said pigeons were protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The act says that pigeons can only be killed under a Defra licence, and only under certain circumstances.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "A build-up of bird numbers is normally a result of a readily accessible food supply and attractive habitats.

"Effective long-term management is normally dependent on the ability to eliminate or reduce these, such as preventing access to food and using anti-roost measures."

He said the first option must be to seek alternative means of solving the problem, and only if those fail, to consider humane control methods."

Pigeons have caused problems elsewhere, such as in Trafalgar Square, London.

Officials in the capital spent about £130,000 on reducing pigeon numbers in 2004, and even used a harris hawk to scare away the pigeons.