Gang of thuggish seagulls ruined our day at the beach – a bird the size of a cat stole my daughter’s ice cream

GULLS will be gulls – but harassed holidaymakers around the country are wishing they would just flock off after a spate of attacks by the seabirds.

Some councils are even resorting to bringing in hawks to try to scare them off.

The winged thieves, which swoop down on unsuspecting victims to grab their food, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to kill or injure them.

Some repeat offenders have even gained nicknames.

There’s Lecter, as in Hannibal Lecter, in Ilfracombe, Devon, Dewi the Dive-bomber in Llandudno, Clwyd, and Stevie in Beccles, Suffolk.

Bournemouth in Dorset hit headlines this week after Greg the gull took to perching on a phone box in the resort where he had the pick of targets emerging from three bakeries.

A staff member at the Cornish Bakehouse said: “Angry customers sometimes come back in and ask for another snack because a seagull has just pinched theirs, but what are we supposed to do?”

Lecter, in Ilfracombe, uses the same trick. Katie Hampton, who owns the Harbour Bait And Tackle kiosk in the resort, said: “He must steal food 20 times per day.

“He will watch you and when you are distracted he will take whatever you have.”

Scarborough in North Yorkshire is one of the towns to introduce hawks as gull deterrents, though the programme was recently axed — leading to attacks by seabirds going on the rise again.

John Senior, of the town’s South Bay Traders Association, said: “This summer attacks on children and people carrying food in their hands are growing.

“The gull population has exploded again. These attacks are very traumatic. These gulls are big animals. They can cause injury, particularly to children.”

Resident Sheridan Hodgson, who was attacked last summer, said: “I had only just started eating an ice cream when a gull landed on my head. It was really heavy. It shoved my head down then flew away with my ice cream. It was a bit scary, but I was more annoyed he had my ice cream.”

Gulls are causing grief in Blackpool too. Local Natalie Dunnett, who has lived there for 23 years, said: “They are 100 per cent bigger and are like pterodactyls. They just come straight up to you.”

Angry customers sometimes come back in and ask for another snack because a seagull has just pinched theirs

Her daughter Layla, 11, added: “One seagull attacked a teacher. If they come close to us we have to run away.”

Daredevil Dewi in Llandudno is among a whole flock of marauding gulls.

One café owner said: “There was a bald-headed gentleman not so long ago who was attacked from behind. He was bleeding from the back of the head and they followed him down the street. He wasn’t eating anything at the time.

The gulls can be quite vicious

And supermarket shoppers are in just as much danger. Denny Williams warned online: “Be careful if you go to Aldi, Llandudno, shopping. The seagulls are stealing things out of trolleys.

“One swooped down and took an unopened pack of ham which was packed at the top of our bags this morning.”

In Beccles — around seven miles from the coast — gull Stevie has found rich pickings. A Greggs staff member told The Sun: “It walks in through the door, takes a bag of crisps and calmly walks out again.”

In Aberdeen, The Old School House pub in the city was forced to arm diners with water pistols to keep swooping birds at bay while they ate.

And down the coast in St Andrews, the gulls have become even more brazen.

Little Chloe Steward, eight, had a hot dog stolen right out of her mouth by an airborne thief while at the beach with mum Lucy, 33.

Lucy said: “The seagull came out of nowhere and landed on Chloe’s head. It snatched the hot dog before she got any of it.”