A ROW has erupted over attempts to control Darlington's pigeon population with animal welfare groups saying hundreds of birds could be killed in a mass cull.

Darlington Borough Council has denied claims by the Pigeon Control Advisory Service (Picas) that nesting birds will be killed in an effort to reduce numbers.

The concerns centre around three nesting areas under railway bridges in the town, home to the majority of Darlington's pigeon population of between 200 to 300 birds.

Picas, which relocates pigeons, had been working with the council to remove the birds humanely.

But the service said despite several visits to Darlington, including to help with the removal of birds from inside the roof of the Dolphin Centre, the council "had now closed ranks".

It said that they felt their comments were not welcomed by representatives from the borough council.

Guy Merchant, director of Picas International, said: "Our concern now is that the council has moved away from the approach of controlling pigeon numbers in a humane way, to culling the birds."

A council spokesman said it was committed to finding a way of reducing bird numbers without a cull.

The spokesman said: "It is not our policy to kill pigeons."

Mr Merchant said statistics showed that culling pigeons was not an effective method of controlling their numbers.

He said where a cull occurred pigeon numbers were likely to return to previous levels and even increase.