Newcastle bird death netting repairs 'must wait', council says

The colony of kittiwakes on the quayside is the furthest inland in the world

Damaged netting that has trapped endangered gulls cannot be replaced until a council can find cash for major restoration work, it has said.

Kittiwakes have died in a net on the Tyne Bridge that is intended to deter nesting birds.

Newcastle City Council said it was examining "cost-effective ways" to carry out the repairs.

The cost of equipment and road closures means it can only happen at the same time as planned maintenance, it said.

Newcastle and Gateshead have applied for funding from government and other external sources to pay for the work.

The bridge was last painted in 2000.

Posts on social media earlier this week showed birds trapped in the netting on buildings on Lombard Street

Newcastle council said it would "inspect the nets to try and ensure that other birds are not getting caught".

"In the longer term we will look to renew the nets, but this will be part of major refurbishment work on the bridge and cannot be done immediately," a spokesperson said.

The quayside's colony of kittiwakes is the furthest inland in the world.

More than 21,000 people have signed a petition demanding the removal of netting from buildings in the area.

Damaged nets on the Exchange Buildings on Newcastle Quayside that had trapped birds have been replaced by the building's owners.