A PIGEON expert will be visiting Trowbridge following a month-long operation to help an Australian city deal with its expanding bird population.

Guy Merchant, of the Pigeon Control Advisory Service (PICAS), has his sights set on Wiltshire's county town to help resolve one of its longest running problems.

A pigeon action plan has been drawn up following a make-or-break meeting between Trowbridge Town Council and West Wiltshire District Council last month.

Mr Merchant, who vowed not to work with either authority unless they committed to using non-lethal methods, will start a survey of the town's pigeon population next month.

He is due to fly back from Melbourne this week where he has spent most of the month helping the council draw up ways of controlling the city's 30,000 pigeon population.

Trowbridge's first action plan dedicated to pigeons covers a year-long list of targets:

July: Survey Trowbridge to identify potential roosting or feeding sites.

August: Prepare costs and designs for roosts and feeding areas and highlight all areas where feeding should not take place.

September: Finalise funding sources and reach agreements with land or building owners to install feeding sites.

October: Apply for

planning permission and establish any legal or

partnership agreements.

December: Prepare to go public on the plans and start construction of the areas.

January 2005: Unveil the projects to the press and public.

July 2005: Review how effective the measures have been in reducing pigeon numbers.

Cllr Tom James, who heads up the council's town development committee, said he hoped the year-long action plan would have its desired effect of solving the problem once and for all.

Animal campaigners and liberation groups targeted the town at the end of last year when councillors looked on the verge of voting for a cull.

District solicitors refused to prosecute three elderly ladies accused of feeding the birds earlier this year, sparking a legal row with town councillors.