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EXCLUSIVE

Vicious gulls are terrorising people living in a Tankerton street.

They are swooping down from rooftops in Pier Avenue where they are nesting and rearing their young in an apparent effort to defend their territory.

Kentish Gazette photographer Paul Dennis went into the back garden of one house in the road and was almost immediately hit by a gull which dived down from the roof.

Within 10 minutes two other gulls had arrived and were circling above the house.

He was menaced constantly by the gulls all the while he was in the garden.

Retired builder Frank Clarke is among those who has witnessed first hand the behaviour of the gulls protecting their chick.

“They come down and skim your head when you are outside,” the 79-year-old said.

“There’s a nest up on the chimney and they are simply protecting their young and you just have to accept that is what they are trying to do – after all they have been here longer than us.

“The bird often comes straight for you and has gone for my dog on occasion.”

Mr Clarke says that once he found a blackbird which had been killed by a seagull.

The window of his bungalow had been spattered with blood and he later buried it in his garden.

Neighbours of Mr Clarke are say the gulls have been pestering them for three months and that they have been unable to enjoy their gardens for fear of being attacked.

One pensioner was struck on the head by a swooping gull.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says gulls – mainly herring gulls – swooping to protect their young are common at this time of year.

RSPB spokesman Graham Madge said: “There are measures people can take to deter this including proofing their roofs against them nesting.

“Or people can take a stick out to try to ward the gulls off if they are dive-bombing.

“They rarely strike people, but this can happen when the gulls are trying to protect their young and ward off humans.

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say they are terrorising people, though.”