Seagull mess is '˜damaging' holiday trade

Waterloo councillor Derek Robertson has added his voice to complaints by hoteliers that gulls are tearing into the plastic bags currently used by householders for their waste.

They say garbage is being strewn down back alleys which is off-putting for visitors and damaging their businesses.

Many properties do not have wheelie bins because of the high density of properties in the area.

Coun Robertson, who also raised the issue at full council, said: “Even if people put their rubbish out late the previous night or early in the morning on collection day, the seagulls are attacking the plastic bags and creating a real mess.

“Something needs to be done by the council.

“They either need to provide more seagull-proof bags for people, or there are areas which could be given wheelie bins because we have back alleys where they could be stored.

“But this is creating a real mess and it is damaging to people’s business in the holiday area.”

Hoteliers Karen Atkinson of the Bond Hotel on Bond Street and Mark Solomon of The Kenley Hotel on St Chad’s Road have both spoken out about the issue.

Around 1,000 reinforced hessian seagull sacks were distributed by the council last year at a cost of £6,000 but it was hoped to save money on street-cleaning costs.

Coun Gillian Campbell, deputy leader of the council, said there had been a pilot scheme to distribute seagull-proof bags in the South Shore area.

She added: “I will speak to officers to see if we can extend it. I think it would be ideal if we could extend it but I’m not sure if we can extend it to commercial properties.”

Ms Atkinson said she had had about 20 complaints in a single morning after seagulls had swooped down on plastic rubbish bags and shredded them “to pieces” forcing visitors to “traipse through rubbish”.