Pigeon poo problem of Royston escalates

THE pigeon mess problem in Royston is escalating with members of the public feeding the birds labelled “absolutely reprehensible”.

Councillors discussed the matter on Monday and it came to light that the droppings from the birds was having a bigger impact due to the hose pipe ban which affects council cleaning.

Cllr Peter Burt said: “The character of members of the public feeding pigeons and encouraging this mess is absolutely reprehensible.

“We also have a problem at the moment called a drought and a hose pipe ban that exacerbates the problem.”

Royston Town Council has previously discussed a number of options to deal with the problem including poisoning them, acquiring a bird of prey to hunt the pigeons, and feeding the pigeons contraceptives.

Cllr Lynne Berry told the Crow: “It has come to the council’s attention there is one or indeed more members of the public feeding the pigeons which should be discouraged.

“It’s not going to help the situation. It increases the mess they cause and the drought and hose pipe ban make the problem worse. This causes problems because birds droppings can cause a slip hazard.

“It’s causing problems with the church and other significant buildings in the area as they have nasty stuff in their droppings.”

Councillors have advised people to stop feeding the birds.