UK landlocked town invaded by ‘apocalyptic' swarm of 3,000 seagulls

Locals have likened the unusual scenes to those in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds, as thousands of birds a day sweep through their town.

The birds descended on Hyndburn when workers at a nearby landfill site began filling a disused quarry with rubbish.

Since the “apocalyptic” swarm’s arrival, residents have been bombarded with bird poo, which is covering homes, gardens, and people. Some believe that the birds are devaluing their homes.

Resident Gary Hough, 62, said: “There must have been 3,000 seagulls above my house on Wednesday this week. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“The gulls are here about 7am and head towards the tip and they come in dribs and drabs but start to congregate.

“Then from 8am onwards, that’s when the majority of them come and it’s just constant until around 9.30pm.”

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He said that the birds seem to be rapidly multiplying since their arrival in April and worries that they are “here to stay”.

Hough’s wife, Cheryl Gouldstone, 59, said: “It’s like an Alfred Hitchcock film. There’s visual pollution, noise pollution and people can’t believe this is going on.

“You can’t sit in the garden as it’s covered in bird poo. They’re dropping food in the gardens.

“I drive home on the motorway and I know when I’m home because I see a swarm of seagulls above the road.”

Suez, the company operating the Whinney Hill landfill, has put in place mitigation measures, such as setting off loud noises to scare the birds away.

However, Hough says that all this does is disperse the flock of birds and cause them to mess on the town.

Hough has since set up a Facebook page where locals can voice their concerns. He has also organised a public meeting with local councillors and Suez to discuss the issues.

Borough councillor Vanessa Alexander raised the issue with Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency, who told her they'd had more than 140 reports from locals since July.

She said: “Part of the problem is the birds have nested, they're not going away. They've changed the side of the tip they're using so it's closer to the housing.

“I live near the tip so I too suffer from bird poo on my car and house. The sheer amount of birds is horrific.”

Richard Phillips, landfill operations manager at Suez, said the company was “actively working to deter” the birds to “minimise their impact on the local area”.

He added: “We are currently deploying every measure within our plan to mitigate the number of seagulls in the area, which has increased following the migration of birds inland during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“And are working with the Environment Agency as well as independent specialist contractors to explore what further steps we may be able to take to address local concerns.”