Gulls cause Bath residents to suffer sleep deprivation

The birds cause residents at the Riverside development to suffer "torturous sleep deprivation," said Gavin

A man living in a housing development plagued by gulls says he has had "to seek refuge with friends and family" for the sake of his health.

Gavin, who moved to the Riverside in Bath last year, said he was often surrounded by the birds and they caused him to lose sleep and suffer anxiety.

"I was simply not prepared for the serious impact that these creatures have upon me," he said.

"It's been impossible to escape sleep deprivation."

The resident association's gull action group has highlighted the issue with Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Gavin told councillors that noise from the birds woke him at 03:00 and stopped him from getting back to sleep.

"On the roof of the building adjacent to me, at the level of my windows and within a distance of no more than 50 feet, there are often 10 or 12 adult gulls," he said.

"There are often four of five on my balcony, two on the parapet above me, and three of four on a second neighbouring building.

"My health and wellbeing have suffered from lack of sleep, anxiety, and being unable to concentrate with windows open, even in the stifling heat of summer," he added.

The birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act

Gulls are a significant problem in Bath, where the abundance of Georgian architecture provides perfect places for the birds to nest. But even people living in the modern Riverside development are being plagued by the birds, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The development's management company had worked with the council's gull officer Gordon Dugan to develop proofing measures, but Gavin said that the issue extended beyond the development's own buildings.

Gulls are also showing "increasingly aggressive behaviour," he warned.

"I had a sandwich snatched from my hand, drawing blood; I have been hit on the head by a gull while walking; and I have witnessed a gull take ducklings from the canal."

Bath's Georgian architecture provides perfect places for the gulls to nest

The birds and their nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but Natural England can grant licences to control gulls by removing nests or eggs.

At a meeting on Thursday, Gavin called on councillors to engage with Natural England to allow them to do more to tackle the gulls.

June Player, councillor for the Westmoreland ward which includes the Riverside development, commented: "Natural England is protecting all birds; but who is protecting the residents?"