COUNCILLORS will continue their campaign against aggressive seagulls by educating the public not to encourage the birds to nest.

Earlier this year, Lyme Regis Town Council launched an advertising campaign aimed at educating people not to feed the birds amid reports that seagulls were becoming aggressive and injuring people in the resort.

Cllr Richard Doney, who led the campaign, met with staff at Sidmouth Town Council to find out more about using a hawk to drive away seagulls.

He said: "Sidmouth have concluded that there is no point, it is not a cost effective situation. "I have found no evidence of hawks having a desirable effect. There is potential for property owners in preventing them from nesting in buildings at all. We could make people aware of what they can and can't do."

But Cllr Jeff Scowen urged the council to do more.

He said: "I don't quite go along with this hawk thing. Can we not look at having them a times when the seagulls are proving to be a problem at certain times? I really do think we are taking it too complacently.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

"This year is the first time I have seen the seagulls come down to tables when people are eating. It is a serious problem and it has nothing to do with people feeding them."

But councillors spoke out about how seagulls have been taking food from people for many years.

Cllr Cheryl Reynolds said: "I had a seagull eat my banana when I was a little girl."

Cllr Brian Larcombe, who also praised the campaign, called on businesses to take more responsibility for people feeding the seagulls.

He said: "I still think we have to go back to takeaway businesses. The fact that we have so many takeaways just going onto the beach has an impact.

"We need to be speaking to the traders down there to ensure they can provide better packaging of their food.

"There is no simple solution. We cannot get away from the fact there is a big beach there and people take food there. I do believe there is a corelation between the amount of food being dispensed. They need to be ambassadors for this."

Cllr Doney added that the seagulls may be causing more of a problem on the seafront this year as they are struggling to obtain food in the town.

He said: "This is the first year that wheelie bins were introduced.

"I think the lack of black bags around the town meant they went looking for another food source."

Subject to full council approval, the committee agreed to launch a publicity campaign for property owners, letting them know what they can do to deter seagulls from nesting.