North-east residents have been urged to claim back the streets of their coastal towns from nuisance gulls.
Shoppers in towns like Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Stonehaven are well aware of their menace posed by the seabirds during the breeding season.
Now Aberdeenshire Council has launched a fresh campaign to carry out preventative work on properties where seagulls have been known to nest in the past.
The measures include roof-mounted spikes or nets to deter landing, or even the use of a gel which makes birds think a surface is on fire.
However, the council has no legal powers to force owners to carry out preventative works, nor to undertake treatment during nesting.
Instead, it has asked property owners to come forward and inquire about the work.
Last night Councillor Stephen Smith, vice-chairman of the local authority’s infrastructure committee, said: “We regularly receive complaints about gulls in our towns and villages, whether that relates to the noise they make, attacks on humans and pets or simply mess from their droppings, but people can start to claim their streets back from the birds.”
Mr Smith said this could be as simple as disposing of waster properly, or preventing chicks from hatching “depending on the level of the problem”.
Infrastructure chairman David Aitchison, added: “This is not solely the council’s responsibility and we all need to share a common goal of reducing the nuisance caused.
“Action needs to be planned early – once the chicks have hatched it’s too late to do much to reduce the gull numbers.
The local authority is confident that the use of a falconer in Stonehaven, Peterhead and Fraserburgh, to fly hawks which put birds off settling, will also be used this year.