Paul Haynes, manager of the arc, says pigeons are not much of a problem at the moment - but he plans to speak with Bury Town Centre Management and St Edmundsbury Borough Council about a pigeon strategy before their numbers get out of control.

"I don't think there is a big problem compared to other towns - but we don't want it to get to that level," he said.

"In terms of the residents with balcony areas, they are a little bit problematic.

"A possible cull is one option that needs to be considered. Some people refer to pigeons as flying rats.

"Obviously we want to deal with them in a humane fashion.

"The fact of the matter is that we need to try to control their population. We have a duty of care to make sure the area is safe for users."

He ruled out netting and spikes, saying they would only move the problem on within the town.

Guy Merchant, director for PICAS, the Pigeon Control Advisory Service, said the use of hawks was 'incredibly expensive, cruel and pointless'.

He said culling the birds would only lead to more food for those pigeons left, and increased breeding.

"Pigeons breed faster than you can kill them," said Mr Merchant.

He suggested that the problem lay with the birds' food supply left by thousands of visitors to the Abbey Gardens nearby, and suggested Mr Haynes contact PICAS for advice.

But Mr Haynes said: "In my experience as a town centre manager for 20 years, few experts agree.

"We acted on the expert opinion of our sub-contractors. We trialled a hawk over the last three to four months, it proved ineffective and was discontinued."



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