A CLOTHES shop manager in Trowbridge was furious after pigeons caused a major disruption to her business by pecking out the phone wires.

Ann Edney discovered the town's resident bird population were to blame for a day of chaos at her Fore Street store, Arti, on Monday.

Customers were sent out to cashpoints in order to pay for goods as credit card and Switch machines were ruled out of action.

When a BT engineer was called-in to investigate on Tuesday he found the pigeons had pecked their way into the phone box and pulled wires out to make nests.

Mrs Edney said she was fuming when she discovered the birds were to blame.

"It brought our business to a standstill," she said.

"For the last couple of months we have noticed phone lines going dead and the credit card machines not working, but it all came to a crescendo on Monday.

"The engineer could not believe what he saw. They were pulling wires out like twigs.

"The phones were out of order all day. We had to send customers to cash points to get money out."

Even the pigeon-proof spikes designed to keep them off the roof proved ineffective, as the birds happily built their nests on top.

Mrs Edney said: "There are dozens of eggs out there. They are very, very clever. We are definitely against the pigeons.

"It can take me up to two hours in the morning to scrape the pigeon muck off the windows.

"It is absolutely awful."

Trowbridge's elderly pigeon feeders lay seeds down for the birds on a daily basis, exacerbating the problem for fed-up shopowners.

Colin Scragg, Trowbridge Chamber of Commerce president, has already outlined the problem pigeons are having on local trade.

A customer who slipped on pigeon excrement is suing one company, while a second town centre firm is facing a five-figure repair bill.

District councillors will debate the problem on April 7, when council solicitor Simon Best delivers a report to cabinet members.

Mr Best is expected to spell out the authority's reluctance to prosecute the town's elderly pigeon feeders over fears any legal action could turn them into martyrs.

Trowbridge has been at the centre of repeated action from animal rights protesters who campaigned to stop a pigeon cull.