Devizes in Wiltshire takes strong stance to combat the seabird problem
Clothes on washing lines, cars and buildings affected by the birds' waste
Seagulls attracted inland by the mountains of rubbish and waste left out
PUBLISHED: 10:55, 1 July 2015 | UPDATED: 11:22, 1 July 2015
A town popular with tourists has taken to smashing birds' eggs in a bid to quell the numbers of seagulls causing misery to locals and visitors.
Officials in Devizes in Wiltshire have devised a three-year plan to address the number of complaints from people about the seabird.
More than 600 eggs have already been smashed after the council called in an expert to help with the problem.
Seagulls have become such a problem in Devizes officials have began an 'egg smashing campaign
The fact that gulls return to where they were born and bred led officials to decide that smashing the eggs was the first step.
Families say huge flocks of gulls nest on their rooftops even though it's nearly 50 miles from the sea. The gulls' droppings spatter down on people's heads, leave dirt on their washing hung out to dry and put damaging stains on the gleaming bodywork of parked cars.
And the birds are playing havoc with tourists visiting the beautiful market town in the heart of Wiltshire. Devizes has 500 listed buildings and is situated around an old Norman castle.
In the last few weeks 140 nests on the Garden estate - the gulls' favourite roosting spot - have been removed and over 400 eggs have been destroyed.
