GOLF officials have found a novel solution to the problem of birdies becoming bogies at a North-East golf course.

Staff at Rockliffe Hall, in Hurworth, near Darlington, have turned to plastic owls to stop coaching mirrors driving the local wildlife crazy after staff discovered birds were flying into them.

The four driving range mirrors were put in place on the golf course, which is to be one of the longest in Europe when it opens in July, to help golfers improve their swing and study their stance.

So far, no birds have been seriously hurt, but staff have noticed bird imprints on the glass.

The 7,879-yard course is part of a multi-million pound development, which includes a 61-bedroomed five-star hotel along with a luxury spa complex.

It is next to Middlesbrough Football Club’s training ground and is the vision of chairman Steve Gibson.

The former home of the Backhouse family, which was built in 1863, has been undergoing a two-year transformation and extension to create the luxury complex.

The course’s resident pro and coach Tom Godwin, who was previously a pro at Gleneagles, told The Northern Echo: “The birds seem to think the mirrors are either a window, and fly into them, or mistake their reflection for another bird and start dancing around and making a mess.

“You can sometimes see the imprint of the birds where they have flown into it.

“The RSPB advised us the best thing to do was to put plastic owls on top of the mirrors to hopefully deter the birds.

“We are hoping this will solve the problem as it would be awful if a bird was seriously hurt.”

He said the problem was not exclusive to Rockliffe Hall.

He said: “Every single golf course I’ve worked at which has had these mirrors has had the same problem.”