Locals living in a town which has been invaded by seagulls claim existing with the menacing birds is similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 horror movie The Birds.
Residents living in Hyndburn, Lancashire, claim the ‘apocalyptic’ swarm of up to 3,000 seagulls has made it difficult to go outside.
The scavenging winged terrors flocked to the area, which is 30 miles from the nearest coast, when workers at a nearby landfill site began filling a disused quarry with rubbish.
A shocking video shows the huge numbers of seagulls soaring overhead with local houses, cars and gardens being bombarded by bird poo.
Now fed-up residents have started a community campaign to get the operator of the landfill to do more to prevent the birds from running amok.
A local Gary Hough, 62, looks up to the skies outside his home surrounded in seagulls
Residents living in the area of Hyndburn, Lancashire, claim the ‘apocalyptic’ swarm of up to 3,000 seagulls has made it difficult to go outside
Locals claim existing with the menacing birds is similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 horror movie The Birds
The scavenging winged terrors flocked to the area, which is 30 miles from the nearest coast, when workers at a nearby landfill site began filling a disused quarry with rubbish
They claim the birds arrive first thing in the morning and stay until late at night – with some even fearing their presence is devaluing the value of properties in the area.
Gary Hough, 62, said: ‘There must have been 3,000 seagulls above my house on Wednesday this week. I’ve never seen anything like it.
‘The gulls are here about 7am and head towards the tip and they come in dribs and drabs but start to congregate.
‘Then from 8am onwards, that’s when the majority of them come and it’s just constant until around 9.30pm.’
Gary and partner Cheryl Gouldstone, 59, have lived in their £200,000 semi for eight years, but fear the plague of birds might devalue properties in the area.
They say birds have always been attracted to the site, but since last October it has got steadily worse and the issue has been turbo-charged since April.
The firm operating the Whinney Hill landfill, Suez, have implemented mitigation measures, such as setting of loud noises to scare the birds.
Gary said: ‘There must have been 3,000 seagulls above my house on Wednesday this week. I’ve never seen anything like it’
Now fed-up residents have started a community campaign to get the operator of the landfill to do more to prevent the birds from running amok. Pictured: Diggers moving rubbish surrounded by seagulls at Whinney Hill Landfill site operated by Suez
Gary and partner Cheryl Gouldstone, 59, have lived in their £200,000 semi for eight years, but fear the plague of birds might devalue properties in the area
A shocking video shows the huge numbers of seagulls soaring overhead with local houses, cars and gardens being bombarded by bird poo
Seagulls have been resting on homes and business around Hyndburn
Fences and paving slabs covered in bird droppings due to the swarm of birds
Residents have been expressing their alarm at the growing problem the seagulls have posed to the town
Seagulls fly over the town, pictured on July 25
The classic horror flick was loosely based on the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier
The set of The Birds with director and producer Alfred Hitchcock centre along with British actress Veronica Cartwright, Australian actor Rod Taylor, American actress Tippi Hedren and British Jessica Tandy
But Gary says all that does is scatter the birds overhead and cause them to drop their mess on cars, washing and driveways.
He added: ‘It started to become such a concern and people were saying they were getting sick of it.
‘The birds that have come have now nested so they’re here to stay. They’re breeding very quickly and from April, we’ve seen them multiplying.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it, all these new birds that are breeding, it’s not like they’re coming from elsewhere.’
Cheryl said: ‘It’s like an Alfred Hitchcock film. There’s visual pollution, noise pollution and people can’t believe this is going on.’
The classic horror flick was loosely based on the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.
It focuses on a series of sudden and unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, California, over the course of a few days.
An aerial view of Whinney Hill landfill site operated by Suez
Residents have said they have ‘never seen anything like it’ to describe the swarm of birds
Locals have reported that the birds have begun to breed and grow in number
Fences and paving slabs covered in Seagull feces, which can be toxic
Gary has set up a Facebook page where locals can discuss their concerns and has organised a public meeting with landfill operators Suez and local councillors next month
Cheryl added: ‘They set off pistol-like bangs to get rid of them, but all it does is scares them off in droves.
‘You can’t sit in the garden as it’s covered in bird poo. They’re dropping food in the gardens.
‘I drive home on the motorway and I know when I’m home because I see a swarm of seagulls above the road.’
Gary said he had a near miss in his car recently as another motorist was distracted by the birds.
He set up a Facebook page where locals can discuss their concerns and has organised a public meeting with landfill operators Suez and local councillors next month.
He added: ‘There’s always been a bit of a smell and the odd bird, but it’s never been like this.
‘I have it on good authorities there’s rats there. So depending on where you live, you either have the birds, the smell, the rats or all three.’
The birds have made the lives of those living in the town difficult
On local said the have it on good authorities there’s rats there. So depending on where you live, you either have the birds, the smell, the rats or all three
Locals said the issue became worse last October when workers at the landfill began filling a disused quarry, which is closer to the houses in the area.
Greengates Builders Merchants backs on to the site and sees stock and staff cars bombarded with bird muck dropped from the seagulls.
Boss Steve Pickup, 60, said: ‘There’s thousands of them. It’s horrendous. Our staff can’t even go out at lunchtime and enjoy the nice weather.
‘It’s a health hazard as much as anything, there’s that much bird muck and the smell from the tip is quite pungent as well.
‘There’s a quarry next to the existing landfill site, which is much closer to the houses, and they’ve started filling that.
‘They fly above with whatever food they find and it gets dropped on our yard. We had a driver once find a fish head on the back of wagon.
Greengates Builders Merchants boss Steve Pickup, 60, said: ‘There’s thousands of them. It’s horrendous. Our staff can’t even go out at lunchtime and enjoy the nice weather’
Greengates Builders Merchants backs on to the site and sees stock and staff cars bombarded with bird muck dropped from the seagulls
A driver dropping off supplies at the shop once found a fish head in the back of his vehicle
Steve said: ‘It’s a health hazard as much as anything, there’s that much bird muck and the smell from the tip is quite pungent as well’
The seagulls have been covering the shop’s stock in bird muck
‘It’s such an astonishing site for a lot of our customers, they can’t believe what they’re seeing and how many there is.
‘A lot of our stock is covered in bird muck and we can clean most of it off, but some stuff we do have to throw away. Thankfully we have a big turnover of stock.’
Borough councillor Vanessa Alexander, who also lives near the tip, says her car is always covered in bird poo.
She has raised the issue with Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency, who told her they’d had more than 140 reports from locals since July.
She said: ‘Part of the problem is the birds have nested, they’re not going away.
‘They’ve changed the side of the tip they’re using so it’s closer to the housing.
‘I live near the tip so I too suffer from bird poo on my car and house.
‘The sheer amount of birds is horrific.
Borough councillor Vanessa Alexander, who also lives near the tip, says her car is always covered in bird poo
Richard Phillips, landfill operations manager at Suez, said the firm was ‘actively working to deter’ the seagulls and ‘minimise their impact on the local area’
Councillor Vanessa Alexander said: ‘Part of the problem is the birds have nested, they’re not going away’
‘As a borough council, our hands are tied in terms of having any powers, but we are putting pressure on the Environment Agency.
‘We’ve written to the Environment Agency many times.
‘There are things they can do, I think a fire break might be a good idea, where they close the tip and cover it for a bit to force the birds go elsewhere.’
Richard Phillips, landfill operations manager at Suez, said the firm was ‘actively working to deter’ the seagulls and ‘minimise their impact on the local area’.
He added: ‘We are currently deploying every measure within our plan to mitigate the number of seagulls in the area, which has increased following the migration of birds inland during the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘And are working with the Environment Agency as well as independent specialist contractors to explore what further steps we may be able to take to address local concerns.’
Suez said: ‘We are currently deploying every measure within our plan to mitigate the number of seagulls in the area, which has increased following the migration of birds inland during the Covid-19 pandemic’
On local said they ‘have it on good authorities there’s rats’ also in the landfill
The Environment Agency said it was carrying out regular visits to the site and checks on the impacts of odour and pests in the surrounding communities.
John Neville, of the Environment Agency, said: ‘We’re taking action to address issues at Whinney Hill landfill site and recognise the distress the odour and gulls are causing to members of the community.
‘We have made it clear to the operator, Suez, that they must take steps to minimise the impact.
‘We do have officers regularly within the community carrying out odour assessment.
‘We’ll continue to carry out regulatory inspections of the site and will consider any appropriate enforcement steps to ensure the site is compliant with its environmental permit.’
