Plan to ban seagulls from the sea suspended

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A water company’s bid to to scare seagulls away from a beach on the south coast in a bid to reduce “bird pollution” has been suspended following a local outcry. “Gulls are particularly aggressive birds, so they’d have to find out whether the birds were sufficiently scared by the hawks rather than provoked by them.” Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events He added: “If they were defecating in a water treatment works I could understand it, but stopping them defecating in the sea sounds slightly far-fetched to me.” To disturb a protected species you need a licence, he said. Ornithological consultant David Campbell, who runs website Worthing Birding told The Independent it was “madness” Southern Water considers bird faeces in this context pollution. We need to become better at self-evaluation as a species on this planet we share, and in seeing a wider perspective.” He added: “In any case, the notion that a wild animal's waste can be considered pollution in this context is simply hysterical madness.” The attempt to remove the gulls from Worthing beach in an effort to clean up the sea comes as nearby beaches in Brighton and Hove have recently been awarded Blue Flag status for being among the country’s cleanest.