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| NEWS | BY DAN CRESSEY |
 Crowndale Court, where the birds are believed to be nesting  Residents Deborah Burns, right, and Cassie and Edward Tuvey with their dog Micky, which has been attacked  Deborah Burns demonstrating how she wards off birds with a dog chain |
Residents living near the block whose roof has provided a haven for the gulls are calling for a cull to cut numbers. The seagulls have made their home on the roof of Crowndale Court in St Pancras Way, and are harassing unsuspecting passers-by. Pensioner Jack Crabbe, who lives in nearby Charrington Street, said that during one attack he had to cower in a dustbin shed for an hour. “It was like something out of the Hitchcock film,” said Mr Crabbe, 81, a retired gas-fitter. “I had been shopping and the bird tore out of the sky. It swooped above my head and I had to drop my bag and leg it.” The seagull then ransacked his bag of shopping. Mr Crabbe, trapped in the shed with the seagull waiting outside, escaped when children came to the rescue. He said of the birds: “I know they are only doing what’s natural, but it’s simply not safe to have them in the area. “If the council can’t stop them nesting, we need to think about poisoning or shooting them.” Goldington Street Estate Tenants’ Association secretary Deborah Burns, who carries a chain to swing at the birds when she is near their nesting areas, says the problem has got so bad residents are scared to leave their homes. She said: “We avoid the area if we can, but people in the block can’t. I’ve gone miles to avoid walking there and it is affecting how we live our lives.” It is not just humans who are threatened. Crowndale resident Edward Tuvey used to walk his dogs along Goldington Crescent until the family of gulls moved in. “They are fearless,” he said. “They went for my son’s Doberman and my wife’s dog as well.” As gulls are protected by law, little can be done unless there is a specific public health issue, such as a build-up of droppings. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spokesman Graham Madge said that, as numbers of seagulls rise in towns and cities, more people will be attacked. He added that numbers of herring gulls, which are causing the nuisance in Crowndale Court, were falling overall, but had been boosted in London by a combination of high-rise blocks which provide safe havens and litter that offers easy pickings. He said: “The herring gull is declining rapidly by the seaside but the population is increasing in urban areas. “If you’re a herring gull, rooftops in Camden are like cliffs in Yorkshire and there are plenty of feeding opportunities.” The birds’ fearlessness stems from their parental instincts, he added. When their young can fly – within two or three weeks – the parents would no longer be so aggressive. Until then, the gulls, with wing spans of three feet and razor-sharp beaks designed to prise open shell fish, will continue to trouble Somers Town, Mr Madge warned. “What the birds are doing is trying to protect their offspring from potential threats, like any good parent,” he said. |
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