A woman has expressed her disgust at the amount of ‘dead pigeons, droppings and shed feathers’ scattered across a railway bridge not far from Reading Station.
The railway line goes directly over Caversham Road taking trains to and from Reading along the Great Western Railway, with two lanes, traffic going in two directions and walkways on either side.
The bridge has become a popular roost for pigeons. This had led the regular user of this walkway to complain that it is ‘constantly covered in pigeon poo and corpses’.
Photos show a deceased bird on the concrete, the walkways covered in a mix of feathers and bird mess, and pigeons roosting despite netting being placed under the bridge in an attempt to ward them off. The woman, who lives nearby, said: “I’ve lived in Swansea Road for six and a bit years, and it’s got worse for three to four years.
“The netting under the bridge is torn and fallen down.
“The bridge should be chicken-wired. “There’s pigeon faeces running down the walls, and dead and dying birds on the pavement and the road.
“There’s often baby birds sitting on the pavement dying, it’s just really disgusting.
“When it rains the water mixes with the droppings, so you have liquid faeces dropping on people under the bridge. You have to use an umbrella.
“There are some pigeon spikes there but they’re not effective. “It’s just really grim.”
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A dead pigeon seen at the Caversham Road railway underpass. She added she has reported the situation to the council’s Love Clean Reading app. However, she said just cleaning the footpath is not a solution. The woman continued: “Because it’s not blocked off, the pigeons can make nesting sites there.
“Although it’s an ideal habitat for them, this is not a healthy place for them to live, and it’s not healthy for us either. “I helped a woman who fell and tore her hand recently, I just hope she doesn’t get a nasty infection, because it’s filthy down there.” She then called for the bridge to be more thoroughly secured to dissuade the pigeons from nesting there.
The nets have not prevented pigeons roosting under the bridge over Caversham Road in Reading. When asked what could be done to rectify the issue, councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) lead for transport, said: “The bridge structure and the pigeon netting above falls under the responsibility of Network Rail.
“The council’s street cleansing team regularly clean the footway below. “We understand that Network Rail has funding for an alternate solution to the netting and a scheme is currently being designed with a view to deliver this financial year. “We will support by providing the traffic management and lane closures to facilitate their works.
“The new solution should resolve issue on the footpath on both sides.” The concrete is caked in pigeon droppings and feathers as people walk through the Caversham Road Underpass. Credit: UGC
A spokesperson for Network Rail confirmed that netting under the bridge will be replaced. The spokesperson said: “We take our impact on the environment and our local communities seriously.
“We regularly inspect the condition of our infrastructure including deterrent measures such as the pigeon netting underneath Caversham Road bridge.
“We have agreed with Reading Borough Council that we will replace the existing netting with a new, more effective system and are working with our contractors to design this new system and agree a programme timeline for its installation.”
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