Fines should be imposed as a last resort to discourage people from feeding ducks with bread, a councillor has suggested.

The seemingly well-meaning act could disable or even kill waterfowl, pollute ponds and attract vermin, such as rats.

Signs were erected in the Memorial Park in Herne Bay earlier this year urging families not to feed the ducks bread.

Despite noticing a drop in the number of people throwing bread, town centre councillor Andrew Cook says many continue to ignore the warnings.

“They don’t pay attention to the notices because they think they know better, but they’re feeding the birds something that’s slowly killing them,” he said.

“It makes them weak and feeble – they should not be eating it. And if the pond does go foul, the birds will leave.”

One of the illnesses it can cause is “angel wing”, which is the result of an unbalanced diet.

It is a deformity that can affect the way ducks fly – in some cases preventing them from doing so altogether – and can be deadly.

Cllr Cook says seagulls also get drawn to Memorial Park by the bread. He believes this may be an even bigger reason for ducks being killed.

“Another problem is the bread attracts seagulls, which eat the chicks,” he said. “I have seen seagulls with chicks’ legs hanging out of their beaks.

“People should get some seeds and frozen peas, lay them on the grass and the ducks will be quite happy to eat them.

“It’s going to take ages for us to stop the seagulls from going there because they have long memories.”

Oats, rice, grapes, frozen peas, chopped lettuce and duck pellets have been listed as safe foods to give to ducks.

Cllr Cook says more needs to be done to educate people and suggested enforcement officers or police community support officers (PCSOs) should tell those contemplating giving waterfowl bread not to do so.

“We need to educate people,” he said. “We need to get it into schools and let the kids teach the parents.

“I think people should also be told by enforcement officers or PCSOs in Memorial Park not to feed them bread and maybe they should be fined if they don’t listen.

“People are doing harm more than they realise.”