DEVIZES town council spent £6,546 this year on deterring gulls from nesting on two trading estates in the town.

A report to the town council shows that gull control which involves Harris hawks flying over the Garden Trading Estate and the Hopton Industrial Estate and eggs being removed from nests took place between April and August.

Contractors NBC Environment made monthly visits to the sites and the council also had to pay for the hire of a cherry picker. The report says: "This is an ongoing project as only a sustained project will lessen the impact of the gulls."

Devizes Town Council joined forces with the old Roundway Parish Council and Wiltshire Council in 2015 to bring in the hawks after people living nearby signed a petition calling for action after they were being driven by the noise and mess caused by the gulls.