Solar panel pigeon poo causes a flap at Nottingham City Council

Nesting birds can damage tiles, block gutters and reduce the efficiency of panels

Pigeons nesting under solar panels have landed Nottingham City Council with a bill of more than £350,000.

The authority has already fitted thousands of panels to tenants' homes as part of its efforts to be a carbon-neutral city by 2028.

But more than 300 complaints have been made about birds nesting underneath them, damaging roofs and causing a health hazard with their droppings.

Now a guard mesh will be fitted on affected panels at a cost of £362,664.

A council spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service more than 3,000 council-managed properties across the city have solar panels on their roof space.

"A common issue that has come to light with these solar panels is birds nesting under the array.

"This has led to many issues including resident complaints, blocked gutters, damaged tiles, leaking roofs, unwanted noise nuisance and the build-up of guano (droppings) that is classed as hazardous to people's health," he said.

Nottingham City Council's finances are already under the watch of a government inspector

The build-up of droppings on solar panels can also reduce their efficiency by up to 30% over their lifetime.

The spokesman said: "So far over 300 calls have been received and up to five emails a day from both the customer service team and tenants asking what our solution is to this problem.

"The plan is to carry out the works on 'a needs must' basis, due to the fact that not all panels are affected due to their location and the fact that we fit this protection to all new installations."

The Labour-run authority - which is already being monitored by a government-appointed board - has had to make a special request to spend money on providing the pigeon protection.

It was agreed that this was a legitimate spend from Housing Revenue Account resources.

The approved programme will be funded by capital receipts - which includes income generated from the sale of land and buildings the council no longer requires.

The authority will award the contract for the pigeon protection works to Nottingham City Homes (NCH), which it has just brought in-house.

In May it was found up to £40m of cash ringfenced for Nottingham housing tenants had been spent on other services. This money must now be paid back.

The government recently said it was "minded" to bring in commissioners to help run the council for the next two years.