Elderly couple held hostage by seagulls in their own home for six days

A pensioner ended up in hospital after he and his wife were held captive in their coastal home by a couple of angry seagulls.

Roy and Brenda Pickard were barricaded indoors for almost a week after two chicks slipped onto the canopy directly above their door.

The positioning of the baby gulls – just nine feet off the ground – meant that any time Roy, 77, attempted to leave his home in Knott End he was challenged by two squawking adult birds.

During one confrontation he was pecked so hard on the back of his head by one of the grown-ups he had to be taken to Lancaster Infirmary to clean up the bloodied wound.

‘If that bird had hit me in the face instead of the back of the head, I dread to think how seriously injured I would have been,’ Roy said.

Describing the six-day siege, Roy said: ‘The whole thing has been terrible.

‘I’ve not been able to go out of the front door. If I try to get out of the door, the two adult birds are right there and I’ve got no chance. It’s genuinely frightening.’

He added: ‘My wife isn’t well or very mobile at the moment so we’re relying on me to get out.

‘Thankfully, we have an integrated garage and I can get into it from the kitchen, open the garage door and drive out to get our shopping, but I have to leave the garage door open, which isn’t ideal.’

The retired ambulance man said he couldn’t bear to think what might have happened had he been more seriously injured by the bird.

Frustratingly for Roy, his hands were tied after Wyre Council confirmed the birds were Herring Gulls which are protected once nesting.

He said that neither the RSPCA nor the RSPB had been any help ‘whatsoever’, adding: ‘They seem to put the rights of these birds above those of people, which is ridiculous.’

The pensioner similarly criticised the council for offering an umbrella to shield the couple ‘but they don’t seem to be doing anything about the birds’ which could be there until July.

‘Why are seagulls protected? They are not an endangered species, they’re a flaming nuisance,’ Roy said.

Eventually BBC Radio Lancashire came out to the couple’s home and arranged for a gazebo to be set up to provide some temporary relief.

A Wyre Council spokesman said: ‘We sympathise with Mr Pickard’s situation, seagulls can be troublesome, particularly when nesting.

‘We have visited Mr Pickard to assess the situation and have given advice on how he can deal with the gulls.

‘For now, a solution is in place which will enable Mr Pickard to take his wife to her private appointment.

‘The gulls in question are Herring Gulls and they are protected once nesting and so there are limited solutions available.

‘We advise residents who have a problem with seagulls to bird proof their properties prior to the breeding season.’

‘We offer advice and support on our website on how you can bird proof you property at www.wyre.gov.uk/seagulls.’