Lockdown, with beaches deserted, buildings closed and bins overflowing, is likely to cause a particular pest control nightmare could be around the corner, as the skies fill with legions of seagulls.
Writing in The Sun today, Paul Blackhurst, Rentokil’s technical academy head, said: “Gulls are known to attack people with their sharp beaks and spread some terrifying diseases, but the lockdown is creating serious problems in our fight against them.
“As a pest control specialist at Rentokil, I was as shocked as any by the horrific problems gulls brought to Britain last summer, including the feared swiping of Gizmo the chihuahua from his heartbroken owner’s garden.”
But Mr Blackhurst said that coronavirus lockdown could bring a terrible glut of gull problems throughout 2020 and beyond.
Worried residents in Looe, Cornwall, have already been told by the council they won’t have access to gull control services this year that locals rely on to keep the menacing birds at bay.
Mr Blackhurst said: “Gulls terrorise people all over the country and can be found anywhere, with some of the biggest known colonies discovered in major cities like Birmingham and Cardiff – and their spread has been astonishing.”
