Reading pigeons cause long-standing issue for railway bridge

Network Rail said it would replace the netting under the bridge to deter roosting pigeons

Residents have complained about the "long-standing issue" of pigeons underneath a town's railway bridge.

Photographs show dead birds, droppings and shed feathers on the pavement beneath the bridge on on Caversham Road, near Reading Station.

The woman who took them said the netting under the bridge has been torn and fallen down.

Network Rail, which maintains the bridge, said it was regularly inspected and the netting would be replaced.

Reading Borough Council said its's street cleaning team regularly cleaned the path.

"It's just really grim," one resident, who requested to be anonymous, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"I helped a woman who fell and tore her hand recently, I just hope she doesn't get a nasty infection, because it's filthy down there," she added.

One resident called the walkway "grim" and "filthy" after she photographed it

A spokesperson for the council told the BBC the bridge structure and the pigeon netting fall under the responsibility of Network Rail.

They said the rail company "has funding for an alternate solution to the netting and a scheme is currently being designed with a view to deliver this financial year".

"We will support by providing the traffic management and lane closures to facilitate their works," they added.

People have made complaints about dead pigeons, droppings and shed feathers under a railway bridge

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: "We take our impact on the environment and our local communities seriously.

"We regularly inspect the condition of our infrastructure including deterrent measures such as the pigeon netting underneath Caversham Road bridge."