RESIDENTS of a sheltered housing block in Aberaeron are running the gauntlet of aggressive seagulls on a daily basis, it was claimed this week.

In scenes reminiscent of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film classic The Birds, tenants say they are frequently dive-bombed by angry birds defending their young.

Now they are calling on landlords Tai Ceredigion to consider deploying hawks in a bid to drive the gulls away.

One man, who did not wish to be named, said that in the past the problem had been exacerbated by tenants of the Tai Ceredigion Housing Association-run block feeding the gulls.

“That more or less stopped after environmental health officers wrote warning letters, but the problems we are experiencing are now worse than ever,” he told the Cambrian News.

“We’ve had a meeting with Steve Jones, of Tai Ceredigion, and they brought in a cleaning company at presumably great expense.

“They put up fencing and spikes on the roofs to stop the gulls from landing, but the spikes they installed were comical.

“They are positioned at either end of the tiles so the gulls simply land in the middle.

“What makes me so angry is that charity and public-funded money is being wasted in this way – money that is sorely needed for other resources.

“Now the gulls have fledglings they are attacking anyone who ventures too near.

“Up in Porthmadog the local council have invested money in introducing hawks to drive the gulls away and Cardiff City Council have a similar scheme running in the city centre.”

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now