A pensioner has been left with a £1,000 court bill for feeding the birds in her back garden.
Brenda Hawkins, 74, was hauled to court after neighbours complained about flocks of pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descending on her home daily – likening it to a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
After being fined £1,000 for ‘nuisance’, she was told the penalty would be as much as £2,500 next time if she continued putting out food – and a refusal to pay could result in a jail sentence.
Brenda Hawkins, (pictured) 74, was hauled to court after neighbours complained about flocks of pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descending on her home daily
Ms Hawkins was fined £1,000 for ‘nuisance’ and she was told the penalty would be as much as £2,500 next time if she continued putting out food. A refusal to pay could result in a jail sentence
Locals in the seaside town of Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, said up to 100 birds arrived in Mrs Hawkins’s garden every day, causing an intolerable mess and racket.
But yesterday, the retired personal assistant complained that Conwy council had punished her in a ‘draconian’ manner. Mrs Hawkins, who has lived in her semi-detached bungalow for more than 25 years, said: ‘I think it’s disgusting. The council has gone over the top to make an example of me.
‘My difficulty is that when feeding small birds, it’s inevitable that larger birds such as seagulls join in. I have no control over which birds turn up.’ She added: ‘I enjoy nature but now that’s been taken away from me. It’s a sad day for bird-loving people.’
Magistrates in Llandudno were told how around 80 to 100 pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descended on Mrs Hawkins’s lawn and garden wall to eat seeds and other food she put out each morning
Neighbours said their cars, along with clothes on their washing lines, were regularly spattered with droppings
Magistrates in Llandudno were told how around 80 to 100 pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descended on Mrs Hawkins’s lawn and garden wall to eat seeds and other food she put out each morning.
Neighbours said their cars, along with clothes on their washing lines, were regularly spattered with droppings. They claimed they felt threatened by the birds, which sometimes ‘dive-bombed’ residents in the otherwise quiet street.
The council first received complaints in May 2014, and Mrs Hawkins was offered advice on reducing the number of larger birds. But she refused to change her behaviour, and in June she was issued with a Community Protection Notice – similar to an anti-social behaviour order. She denied failing to comply with the notice, but magistrates found her guilty after hearing evidence from neighbours including Diane and Harold Fredman, whose garden backs onto Mrs Hawkins’s.
Mrs Fredman, 69, said: ‘The noise from the flapping of wings and the seagulls was horrendous. Putting that amount of food out with no consideration for neighbours is ridiculous.’
Her daughter Alex Harvey, 35, added: ‘It’s like a scene from the Hitchcock horror film The Birds when huge flocks swoop into the garden.’
But Mrs Hawkins’s husband Derek, 78, said there had been no complaints until the Fredmans moved in, describing the couple as having a ‘vendetta’.
Mrs Hawkins was fined £200, also paying costs of £409, a criminal court charge of £520 and a surcharge of £20, leaving her with a £1,149 bill.
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