Rallying cry issued in Dumfries seagull struggle

A council has urged the public to report the location of seagull nests in a bid to tackle the issue of "dive-bombing" birds.

Dumfries has long-standing issues with urban gulls swooping and taking food as well as noise and mess problems.

The local authority runs a free nest removal scheme and can also have spikes put on the roof of problem buildings.

It said now was the best time to spot nesting gulls and asked people to report them "as soon as possible".

Incidents of swooping and stealing of food should also be reported as the local authority said that could help to target certain locations.

The public has also been asked to help tackle the issue on properties near their own home.

"Sometimes neighbours have a better view of a nest site than the person who lives in the house on which the nest is built," a council statement said.

"If you think your neighbour has a gull nest on their roof ask the affected householder to report the nest.

"Building owners, occupiers and landlords need to give us permission to remove gull eggs or nests. We can't do anything without this permission."

In addition, it repeated a plea to the public not to feed the birds.