A cull of pigeons in Southend has been labelled "totally pointless" by a national advice group.

Leaders of the Pigeon Control Advisory Service have pledged they will visit Southend Council, claiming there is an alternative to killing pigeons.

Guy Merchant, consultant and founder of the service, commended council chiefs for threatening people with legal action for feeding pigeons.

However, he stressed there were better alternatives than taking people to court.

He said: "Trapping pigeons and culling them is totally pointless. It's patently ludicrous to spend masses of ratepayers money doing this."

Mr Merchant said a Swiss scientific survey showed the best way to reduce the pigeon population was by setting up nesting boxes.

Eggs were removed from the boxes which cut pigeon numbers by 10,000.

Mr Merchant added: "The council must be well aware killing pigeons has no real effect but I suppose they have to be seen to be doing something. I'm happy to go down to Southend and meet with the council and talk to them.

"I would recommend they produce a public information leaflet to deter feeders."

Head of environmental health at Southend Council David Connor denied masses of money was being spent on the cull. He said: "It's a cost that has been built into the existing duties of officers.

However, we will make contact with Mr Merchant because we welcome any advice about this problem.

"At the moment, we are continuing to act on the advice of the European wildlife division at the Department of Environment to discourage people from feeding pigeons and the controlled trapping programme."

The system of trapping birds and then killing them was launched after residents complained about being dive-bombed by pigeons across the town.

Six sites for traps were identified around Southend including the High Street, Prittlewell Square, Royal Terrace, Thames Drive, Milton Road and Hamlet Court Road.

It is thought more than 100 birds have been killed in the cull so far.

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