Mum’s plea to council
Mum: ‘SBC is not bothered, not interested ...’
A concerned mother has called for action after her eight-year-old daughter was cut by a gull as it swooped down to steal her food.
Phoebe Brooke-Hudson, who attends Newby Primary School, was swooped on by a gull which sliced her finger as it snatched her food.
Her concerned mum, Penny Siddle, took her to the urgent care unit at Scarborough Hospital to have it cleaned up as Ms Siddle feared it would get infected.
“She’s all right now but she was very upset at the time,” said Ms Siddle. “Her finger was bleeding so I took her up to the hospital just to get it checked over.”
Earlier this year, Penny’s son, Harley Siddle-Haigh, was attacked by a seagull on the same street.
“I’m not happy. I had a seagull attack my son last time while he was in his pram.
“They are dangerous and something needs to be done. I stick by my point that if a dog attacked a human like this then they would be put down.”
Ms Siddle, of Scalby Avenue, has spoke to the Scarborough Borough Council numerous times and feel something needs to be done to tackle the problem.
“I rang the council and they are not even interested, they were not bothered,” added Ms Siddle. “So I rang the Environmental department and they said it was to do with th e council.”
Ms Siddle admits the injury the bird cause looks like nothing now but fears it could have been worse.
“The council should have done something they have had more than my two complaints. “Something has to be done.” Scarborough Borough Council says it encourages people to report gull attacks so it could build up a picture of the scale of the problem but has not taken action despite the public concern, which has been backed by MPs. A spokesman said: “People are encouraged to report any attacks by calling 01723 232323 or completing the seagull mugging report at www.scarborough.gov.uk/ seagulls.”