A pensioner has been threatened with a £100 fine after a neighbour complained the pigeons and seagulls were a nuisance, it has been reported.
Fylde council told Anne Seago that she risks committing a 'criminal offence' after the retired music teacher, her son and two neighbours have been accused of 'anti-social behaviour'. But frail Mrs Seago, who has lived at her home in Staining, near Blackpool, since 1982, says one of her pleasures in life is sitting in her conservatory watching sparrows and robins eat seeds on her bird table. Her son Alan, 77, fears the stress of the situation could "finish her off."
Mrs Seago has since has received support from MPs and campaigners after he local council threatened her with a £100 fine for feeding the birds in her garden.
The local council insists it has acted correctly by sending a warning letter and said it could take further action, adding: "Failure to comply with a community protection notice (CPN) is a criminal offence." Breaching the notice can lead to a maximum punishment of five years in jail and an unlimited fine, MailOnline reports.
Now MPs and campaigners have urged Fylde Council in Lancashire to back down and try talking to the bird-loving residents instead. Dennis Read, of campaign group Silver Voices, branded the council's comments as "absolutely ridiculous" and that it isn't "cirminal behaviour in anybody's book".
Tory MP Sir John Hayes added that it seem "odd" to interfere with what Mrs Seago's does "in a private space". The warning letter was sent to Mrs Seago, her son and near-neighbours Ian Wright, 67, and his wife Kath, 66, by Fylde Council and insists it was acting correctly and that 'hundreds' of birds had been seen around their homes and roosting in the area.
The council said it has received allegations from four people about "excessive bird feeding" since 2016 and officers visiting the street had seen "hundreds of pigeons" near the properties. It added: "This has led to the accumulation of bird feed, which has the potential to attract vermin and spread disease, and the build-up of bird faeces, which can cause nuisance and damage to property."
Mr Seago told the MailOnline: "I don't believe the council's claim. At the most there's been 50 or 60 pigeons but normally there's a couple of dozen at most. They don't nest round here. There are all sorts of birds who come to feed." He added that he has not put food out for three weeks since the letter threatening the fine arrived in the post but that birds still flock to their street.
A Fylde council spokesperson told the Mirror: "Fylde Council have been in receipt of complaints regarding alleged excessive bird feeding at two properties in Staining since 2016, from four different complainants, including from properties on different streets.
"Informal letters had been sent by Fylde Council in the past informing the occupants of these two properties that complaints had been received. Officers visited the properties on numerous occasions, most recently in 2023 and reported witnessing hundreds of pigeons in proximity to these properties, mostly on roof tops, with large amounts of food to be provided for them. This has led to the accumulation of bird feed, which has the potential to attract vermin and spread disease, and the build-up of bird faeces, which can cause nuisance and damage to property.
"Officers attempted on several occasions to make contact with the occupants of the two properties concerned. Contact could not be established with the occupants of one property, the occupants did not respond to written correspondence or requests for telephone contact.
"The Council issued Community Protection Warning (CPW) letters on 10 November 2023 to the occupants of the two properties, advising that the Council could consider issuing them with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) if the antisocial behaviour continues. The act of ‘putting out food for the purpose of attracting wild birds to feed’, in such a large amount on a regular basis has a detrimental effect on neighbouring residents, ‘birds roosting and defecating is a public health nuisance and has the potential to cause disease’.
"The Community Protection Warning (CPW) is not a legal notice it acts as a warning to cease the antisocial behaviour – in this instance, the placing of food within the curtilage of the relevant properties (including garages and outbuildings) for the purpose of attracting and feeding wild birds. If it continues the Council could consider serving a Community Protection Notice (CPN). Before issuing a CPN the local authority would have to be satisfied that that the conduct is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality, is unreasonable, and is persistent. Failure to comply with a CPN is a criminal offence. The council has acted in response to complaints from other residents in the neighbourhood.
"Incidents such as criminal damage, threatening behaviour, and physical violence are matters for the police. To our knowledge, any and all altercations involving physical violence or intimidation had already been logged with the police, with police log numbers being provided to the reporting parties."