Council to crack down on pigeon‑poo hotspot area

Dudley Council is to launch an anti-social behaviour crackdown to solve the pigeon crisis blighting a town centre market.

A £150,000 investment in an eating area at Dudley market has been criticised after it attracted large numbers of the birds which left so many droppings it has been branded a health risk.

Resident Gina Mordan said "the piles of poo are disgusting" and she was left "terrified" of a flock of birds that would gather in the eating area.

"Because of all the pigeons in there I won't go in, I have to get someone to clear them all out before I do," she said.

Chris frequents the town market often and says originally he was optimistic about the seating area, but five months on since it was installed it has has attracted anti-social behaviour, he said.

"It's not even five months old but the amount of damage that's been done to it already, not just the pigeons, but from drug taking and vandalism.

"People are feeding the pigeons and that's the major problem because the humans are feeding them and they are creatures of habit.

They know when they're going to get fed because people are throwing their food everywhere and it goes in one end then comes out the other...it's crazy," he added.

A meeting of the council's Communities and Growth Scrutiny Committee on Monday heard the area is falling short of expectations. Councillor Shaukat Ali called it a health hazard and risk as "there were more pigeons using that than people".

Ali said he appreciated the monthly clean ups done in the eating area. He added: "You would be lucky to get two or three days, that is the frequency and level of pigeon droppings..

"Some people use that area to eat food and it is unacceptable for people to have to sit in that environment and for the market traders who have to work in that environment," the councillor for St Thomas's Ward said.

During the meeting councillor David Stanley said the problem was "an embarrassment to us and the market traders."

Another local named Andy said the area had potential to brighten up the area.

"It's a shame because it could have been a really nice area but it needs somebody to take control of the situation," he said.

Councillor Damian Corfield said people were feeding the pigeons therefore attracting the birds to the area.

"People are throwing food on the tables, people think they are doing a good thing by feeding the birds but they are encouraging them."

He said anyone caught feeding pigeons in the market area could be issued with a fixed penalty by council officers.

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