Plan to stop seagull nestsat town hall

A SERIES of nets and pins are being put on Scarborough Town Hall to stop seagulls from nesting there and damaging the historic building.

Dozens of herring gulls and kittiwakes used the building’s ledges this summer to create nests and raise young, which is problematic because, as well as ruining the look of the listed building, their droppings cause damage to stonework and paving.

The birds could not be disturbed during the summer while they were raising their young as some species of nesting seabird are protected by law, so a regime of rigorous pavement cleaning had to take place.

But at a meeting of Scarborough Borough Council’s planning and development committee, councillors granted listed building consent for nets and pins to be put up on the south and west elevations of the town hall.

The nets and pins will replace the existing netting and spike system which had failed to keep the birds at bay.

Before putting up the nets and pins, the building will be treated with biocide to remove the bird excrement and sprayed with insecticide to remove the risk of “secondary infestation”.