PEOPLE are being warned not to feed seagulls in Lyme Regis after reports young children have been attacked by the birds.

Lyme Regis Town Council is attempting to educate the public not to feed the birds after reports they have “become quite aggressive” this summer.

Several reports of seagulls attacking young children have been published on social media.

Miranda Jones has spoken out after a swooping bird left her four-year-old son with a bloody mouth and face.

She said: “They bombarded us, pecked the sandwich out of his mouth.

“His mouth and lip were bleeding. They didn’t give up, literally circling and diving. One hit my head when I put him on my knee.”

She added: “After we’d cleaned him up, we had to move because rather like a dog with a bone, they would not leave him alone.

I’ve never known one fly into a child’s mouth. It was like Hitchcock and he bled a fair bit.”

Ms Jones said she returned to the beach on Tuesday (19) evening with parents and children from Mrs Ethelston’s Academy in Uplyme - but “people won’t take picnics now”.

She said: “When I arrived with my five children and picnic, I asked if people had eaten and they said ‘we tried to but gave up’ because of the bird situation.

“Parents are genuinely and not surprisingly concerned for their children’s wellbeing.”

The town council has installed prominent signs on the seafront as part of the authority’s campaign to discourage people from feeding the seagulls.

The campaign also includes public notices, information in food outlets and stickers on take-away packaging. It has already received the backing of 40 businesses in the town. The signs have been provided free of charge by East Devon District Council after similar notices were put up in Seaton.

Cllr Richard Doney, who has spearheaded the campaign, said: “I have been very pleased by the response by restaurants and food outlets who have all used the stickers on take-away boxes saying ‘please don’t feed me’.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

Cllr Jeff Scowen, Cllr Ricahrd Doney and Cllr Cheryl Reynolds with the new signs

“They have all been very helpful.

“This is one part of the whole process. It is about discouraging people from feeding the seagulls and denying them their food source.”

Cllr Doney took up this project after an appeal at a council meeting by Timber Hill resident Philip Peed to do something about the seagull problem.

He added: “We need to tell people, if they see people feeding them, to stop it. They pose a risk, especially to small children and they have been known to injure people. They have become quite aggressive and it is a real problem, everybody accepts that.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

“It can also pose a threat to tourism in Lyme if people are put off coming to the town by the nuisance of seagulls. We want people to come to Lyme and enjoy their time here.”