WAR has been declared on the growing herring gull population on the North Yorkshire coast after councillors protested that people are being terrified by the birds.

Scarborough Borough Council's cabinet heard that in some places along the coast the gull population has rocketed 450 per cent in the past few years.

Councillor Jane Kenyon said that, at Whitby, one young woman was afraid to leave her home because a particularly vicious gull had made its home on her roof.

Now the issue is to go before the council's scrutiny committee to explore ways of solving the problem, including making a new appeal to the Government for a licence to cull the population.

Councillors heard that residents in Scarborough's harbourside area are taking their washing to friends out of the town to hang out to dry because of gull droppings.

Coun Ted Sulman said properties in Scarborough's old town area were being damaged by gulls pecking out mortar from between bricks.

And Coun Tony Randerson said "We have a duty to tackle this problem because there are no so many gulls".

Stephen Oldridge, director of environmental health, said a succession of potential remedies had been tried but without success, including removing eggs and nests, proofing chimneys with wire to deter the gulls from nesting, egg substitution and smothering eggs in oil to prevent them hatching.

Using stupefied bait was vetoed by the former Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries after a public outcry, and shooting was not seen as an option because of the risk to public safety.

He said the number of gulls was now 17,700 at Scarborough, 1,200 at Whitby, 344 at Filey, 224 at Robin Hood's Bay and 200 at Staithes.