Beat the seagull bullies: How YOU can avoid being targeted by the feathered thugs menacing Britain’s beaches stealing snacks and attacking dogs

From St Ives to Tenby, no seaside town is truly safe from the menace of seagulls, who swoop down on unsuspecting tourists, wary locals and abandoned rubbish as they go to any means to secure a tasty snack.

But the fear instilled by the bellicose gulls could soon be at an end – after MailOnline took to beaches up and down the country to put new strategies to the test. 

Terrorised locals told how the birds, emboldened by coach loads of tourists feeding them, have taken to dive bombing plates, swooping on unattended food items and even working in gangs to secure a tasty snack. 

MailOnline has tested advice from Britain’s top seagull experts on how to avoid being targeted by the militant birds on holiday – as residents of beach towns around the country told how they prevent their food from being snatched out of their hands. 

Dr Neeltje Boogert, a research fellow in behavioural ecology at the University of Exeter, told how wearing contrasting patterns, staring gulls down and wielding an umbrella can all help holidaymakers avoid seagulls stealing food this summer.

But residents of seaside towns such as St Ives, Brighton and Tenby told how tourists are making the problem worse by littering and even feeding the birds themselves. 

They blamed coach loads of visitors arriving in the area and emboldening seagulls, before leaving locals to cope with the aftermath. 

After a series of frightening incidents in recent years in which seagulls have even taking to invading people’s homes, MailOnline tested out some of Dr Boogert’s tips to help holidaymakers avoid heartbreak this summer.

In Brighton, MailOnline found vicious seagulls weren’t put off by some of Dr Boogert’s tips – and still circled our reporter in an attempt to steal some tasty chips.

Wearing a striped shirt appeared to make no difference to the gulls, who required no encouragement to surround the reporter and cheekily grab snacks out of their hands.

Adding the staring component, many of the birds did seem more hesitant, with most remaining two to three feet away from our reporter’s chip tray.

But the more voracious birds remained undeterred, with one practically landing in the chip tray itself in its determination to enjoy a full belly.

When an umbrella was deployed however, it seemed to put off the birds entirely. None tried to grab a sneaky chip and our reporter was left to enjoy a meal in peace.

Locals told of other techniques they have developed to keep themselves – and their lunch – safe. 

Dr Boogert explained that many animals find highly-contrasting patterns aversive, so wearing clothes that feature this, such as stripes or leopard print, could help deter seagulls.

Jana Kalinova, 56, swims regularly at Brighton beach. Originally from Czechoslovakia, she lived in London for 18 years before moving to the south coast after the death of her partner in 2020.

Ms Kalinova, who described her move to Brighton as ‘a dream’, has developed her own ways of outwitting seagulls after being targeted while enjoying food on the rocks.

‘I’m not scared of them, they don’t bite you,’ she said. ‘The problem with the seagulls is when you’ve got kids, you need to watch them.

‘I always say to people, if you’re going to eat, I found this out myself, eat by a wall. 

‘I just finished my breakfast and they didn’t touch me at all. They’re scared of flying into the wall.

‘The third week after I moved to Brighton, I slow roasted some duck for a sandwich and I said, ok, I’m going to the beach. 

‘I opened my food bag and as I opened it all of them came at me. So I had to go and eat it at home.

‘They started organising amongst themselves. There was one on my left, one on my right, another one screaming at other birds behind me.

‘I said oh no you will not eat my duck. I walked to Asda especially for this, I paid £9 for it.’

Despite her own determination, she knows how keen the local seagulls are for any free food.

‘If you get an ice cream, go to the pier and hold it up and all of them will come for it. I always say to parents they can bite children. 

‘People have started to give seagulls food. And once you’ve started that’s it. But I can eat here and they will not attack me.’

Dr Boogert agrees with Jana’s strategy: ‘Gulls need an easy or unobstructed approach and escape route if they’re going to steal your food,’ she said.

‘They will approach from behind, which is blocked when you’re standing against a wall, and they’re not comfortable flying underneath roofs or bunting.’

She also explained: ‘Gulls find the human gaze aversive and are less likely to approach your food when you’re staring them down,’ she explained.

Retired pensioner Janet Churchman, 84, told how local seagulls are encouraged to swipe food by tourists littering on the beautiful Brighton seafront.

‘If you want to sit outside on a day like this you can just forget it,’ she said.

‘When my family comes down from London they always want to go on the pier. That’s been a problem sometimes because if you have chips or whatever they will come down and get them.

‘They’re quite fierce sometimes, if they’re hungry. I don’t quite know how [you avoid being hassled]. If you’ve got fish and chips on the pier, you’ve had it really. 

‘I don’t know what you do really because you can’t really shoot them can you?’

She continued: ‘Coach loads of tourists come here and they’re not used to the seagulls. They spread out and they leave so much rubbish behind. 

‘It’s hardly surprising that seagulls are feeding off of it. They need to be trained first and foremost – if they want to come, take their litter away.’

Deb Klein, a photographer who used to live in Brighton, was visiting her former town on a trip from her native New York with a friend.

She told how she has successfully avoided being attacked directly by any birds by staying aware: ‘I’ve not been attacked because I know how to protect myself. 

‘Whenever I’m eating outside and they come anywhere near, I just throw my body over my food and yell at them. And then they go away. They’ve never gotten my food.

‘Usually, I don’t get it as often when walking but when I’m sitting at a cafe they come and dive down on your table, into your plates.

‘I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen them come and steal food right out of people’s hands.

‘I’m very proactive. But the tourists don’t know. A lot of them don’t know. It’s bad enough that seagulls steal, but feeding them?’

Several students, originally from Bristol, also told how their classmates had been victims of local gulls, having sandwiches stolen straight out of their hands. 

‘We were on the beach the other day,’ one said. ‘I threw some warning rocks in their direction, and they left us alone after that.’ 

Elsewhere, St Ives in Cornwall is known for its emerald coastline and modern art gallery – but it is also notorious for its ruthless seagulls, who will harass anyone with food in their hand.

Gulls are seen swirling around the picturesque stone seafront, screeching with their mouths open, before spotting someone eating and, watching them while floating in the strong winds, taking aim and dropping.

The holidaymaker is rarely touched by the bird, which silently dives, grabs its win and soars away.

MailOnline had not been at the beach longer than a few minutes before spotting an elderly gentleman get swooped by one of the large birds, who made off with a fair share of his rhubarb and strawberry sponge pudding.

Tom Lowry, 74, said it was the first time he’d had any trouble with the birds in his five-day holiday.

But the retired engineer said that at times he had seen 15 people a day get their ice creams taken.

‘Everyone knew it was going to happen’, Mr Lowry, from Coventry, said. ‘All the locals would say: “Here we go”.

‘In September they were just as bad. It was much noisier. I am wary of them. If they want your food they try and get it.’

But he was not upset, adding: ‘It’s all part of the British seagull humour. They’re mainly interested in St Ives for some reason. Things must taste better here.’

Along the seafront, people sat hunched over trying to eat their food while the birds hovered overhead, occasionally making the call and going in for a swoop before being batted away.

On the sand, visitors fared no better. Lauren White, a communications manager from Reading, was visiting with her family and narrowly avoided getting her sausage roll taken while sitting on the beach.

She said: ‘It was hovering behind me. It didn’t hurt me but it hurt my sausage roll as it knocked a bit off the end.

‘We come here most years. You see them take chips and ice cream. We were sitting having a cup of coffee and one flew over and pooed in our coffee.’

The 33-year-old said she’d had lunches ‘pinched’ and been swooped from behind – but that it wouldn’t stop her from returning to her beloved seaside spot.

St Ives is so well known for its seagull pest problem that businesses have signs by their menus warning people to be careful. 

One fish-and-chip shop owner said: ‘They love to take everyone’s food. We get a lot of people asking for more food because theirs has been taken. Often we just give them a free portion. It happens.’

Poppy Durnall, 32, an HR manager from Telford, said the gulls had often tried to take her food – but so far without success. She and her husband Toby were cautious about leaving their child unattended with the birds around.

She said: ‘You can’t leave the children to eat on their own. It’s like they know the children are more vulnerable because they’re smaller.’

Deborah Tompkins, 55, said: ‘They’re particularly bad here. We have lunches pinched; they have swooped down and pinched pasties, baguettes and things like that.

‘They come out of nowhere and take your lunch. They come from behind.’

The personal assistant from Leicestershire said the birds would silently appear. She added: ‘They’re pretty good at what they do, so you’ve got to be on your guard.

‘You can’t enjoy your lunch because you’re too busy thinking: “Am I going to lose it?”‘

Ms Tompkins said the number of food places on the front of the beach enticed the seagulls to the area – as well as people feeding them.

Sally Clayson, 62, said she was able to sit in her garden in nearby Hayle without being bothered by gulls – but the nightmare would start when she visited St Ives.

The retired teaching assistant said: ‘They have never once taken food from our garden. They come here to work and go back.

‘Even the children sit in the garden and eat food and they just sit on the roof.

‘When my children were younger, they would always come and take their ice creams. My dad used to joke: “Should we buy an extra one for the seagulls?” so we would have a spare.

‘We were at a cafe and sat outside and my husband ordered a bacon bap and the waitress brought it out, put it on the table – she hadn’t even walked away and they just swooped and took it.

‘They gave us another one. I must admit, that was funny.’

Mark Hall, 62, a retired housing officer from Devon, said: ‘I remember one nicked a pasty from my hand. I’ve seen one have a go at a child’s ice cream.

‘A seagull hopped up onto my lap while I was eating a pasty that was in a paper bag. It actually sat on me to have a look.

‘But it wasn’t aggressive; I’m an animal lover so it’s fine.

‘We all know about them so you’ve got to keep your wits about you. If you’re eating food, keep it covered because then they won’t chance it and they won’t swoop. 

‘It’s almost like they know if you’re not paying attention – like smash and grab raiders in the middle of the night. They’re gone before you can react.

‘We are bigger than they are and at the end of the day they will back off. They’re not lions. Have you tried staring down a seagull? They don’t take much notice.’

Julie Bryant, 74, a retired cashier from Lidney, said: ‘They came down and whipped an ice cream out of my hand. They’re terrible in St Ives.

‘In the early hours of the morning, there’s the noise. If you’re in a barge or boat or anything, they’re tap dancing on the roof.

Ms Bryant added: ‘My sister and I were in St Ives and our husbands were laying on the beach. We were coming back walking towards them and a seagull had half a loaf of bread, which it dropped down on to my brother in law.

‘He shot up and blamed my sister for throwing a loaf of bread – as if she would do that. We were falling about laughing. It was the seagull.’

But even in St Ives there is hope for seaside-lovers, as MailOnline discovered when taking to the beach with a striped shirt, umbrella and large box of fresh chips.

As soon as the box was opened, the birds descended. Gracefully and with no noise other than the flapping of their wings, they dived down from behind, around the back of our neck and delicately grabbed a chip from the open container before flying off.

The gull called to their friends and the sky darkened as a dozen circled in the sky before fighting each other off from the pickings.

It was time to try the umbrella. Despite heavy winds, holding the umbrella while eating managed to keep them off and they quickly lost interest.

The large perimeter of the umbrella meant they were unable to attack from behind and could not see their target. Staring down a gull was near-impossible, intimidating and didn’t seem to perturb them.

But unlike in Brighton, the most successful method in St Ives was wearing stripes – with the yellow-beaked birds became quickly repulsed and moved away.

No amount of tantalising – waving chips in the sky, leaving the box open – could get them to come back and have a go at the food.

Meanwhile the herring gulls in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, seemed far too brave and cunning to be put off by psychological trickery.

Locals claim the hungry gulls work as a team, targeting holidaymakers leaving Greggs or the town centre ice cream parlour.

Then as they walk down the narrow street to the harbour the birds swoop from behind snatching food out of people’s hands.

Many visitors see it as part of the fun of a trip to the seaside but there is evidence that the birds are getting vicious and have drawn blood from some of their victims.

One hungry specimen perched outside the town’s Hope and Anchor pub was unflinching as it looked longingly at meals being served to customers in the beer garden.

In the town centre locals have christened one of the predators ‘Steven’ after the American actor Steven Segal.

The gull can be spotted standing on a brick wall waiting to swoop down on unsuspecting tourists leaving fish and chip shops. It’s become a regular occurrence to hear a shriek as Steven relieves them of their lunch.

Retired teacher Eileen Hughes, 72, of nearby Saundersfoot, believes gulls are taking revenge for our mismanagement of the coastline.

She said: ‘They used to be seabirds but they have come ashore to eat because we’ve taken all the fish.

‘I love all our feathered friends but seagulls can be quite vicious. An ice cream or tray of chips is a huge temptation for them. People need to be careful.

‘I’m wearing a striped top but that’s just coincidence – I don’t think it will scare the gulls away.’

Her friend Sally Hicks, also a retired teacher from Milford Haven said: ‘I feed the small birds in my garden and then the gulls come down to get their share. But I’ve noticed they don’t like raisins so that might work better than striped clothing or staring at them.’

Nurse Jess Morgan, from Merthyr Tydfil, on holiday in Tenby with husband Lloyd and children Alys, four, and Lowri, three, says the family choose to eat inside pubs and cafes to avoid gull attacks.

She said: ‘I don’t get the eye contact thing, if you look at them they look back as if to say I’m ready to pounce. But I’ll keep wearing stripes all week to see if it keeps them away.’

Retired butcher Dave Jenkins, 72, and his wife Marilyn, 71, from Bridgend, were co-incidentally in stripes on a day trip to Tenby.

Dave said: ‘It’s nothing to do with seagulls, we got dressed separately this morning and put on matching tops. I don’t think the seagulls will take much notice.

‘I don’t mind having a staring contest with them as long as I’m having a pint at the same time.’

Retired food safety officer Marilyn said: ‘They are dangerous, they more or less attack you, a little baby in a pram wouldn’t stand a chance.

‘They seem to know the people who are carrying food and go for them. You have to be careful.’

Holidaymaker Clare Jenkinson, 59, from Warrington, said: ‘It’s part of being by the coast, it happens at resorts all over the country.

‘We’ve come to expect it now if you’re carrying a bag of chips the seagulls will swoop down.’

Nurse Karen Currow, 60, on holiday from Gloucester, said: ‘I’ve heard it all now, I don’t think wearing stripes and staring will make any difference.

‘We have a seagull banging on our windows at Gloucester Royal Infirmary at 4am every morning looking for food.’

A muscular-looking herring gull landed just feet away as Mail Online spoke to Mrs Currow dressed in a blue and white knitted top.

She said: ‘If I had a pasty in my hand now it would be gone. They aren’t scared of anything.’

Retired builder Andy Mules, 78, from Shillington, Bedfordshire, was skeptical about staring down seagulls to scare them off.

He said: ‘They are vicious creatures and they are getting worse each year. I grew up in Cornwall and they would get into your rubbish overnight.

‘But these days they patrol for food in the daytime and nothing seems to bother them. I don’t think stripes or staring at them will do much.’

But one piece of advice from behavioral ecologist Dr Boogert went down well with Tenby’s tourists – a colourful umbrella.

Cardiff University student Georgia Tomlin, 21, said: ‘The seagulls are clever at swooping down to get your ice cream – so it makes sense to have a brolly on stand-by.’