Hastings Forum

Residents in Hastings' Old Town have been provided with "Seagull proof" sacks for their rubbish on collection day.

Hastings Borough Council claim they are "peck and rip proof" and councillor Peter Chowney said "Seagulls are a pest on waste collection day as they tear open sacks of rubbish to gorge themselves on the pickings inside."

It would be great to see these introduced in other areas of the town that can't be equipped with wheelie bins and suffer the same problem.

I will be interested to see if our pesky gulls can find a way in to their "goodies".

We've had them along St Helens' Road for about 12 months now but I haven't found them to be necessary, if you follow some basic precautions.
I never put black plastic bags at night when foxes could be a nuisance.
The busy road deters the gulls early in the morning.

If certain people (especially in some of the cafe's who throw out scraps to clear their waste) stopped feeding the gulls in the Old Town it would help.
There are warnings in Alexandra Park stating that feeding gulls is harmful to their health - for various reasons.