A BIRD of prey has been enlisted by Kingfisher Centre management as the hotly-fought battle against armies of pigeons in the bus station and centre steps up a notch.

Neil Curtis from NBC Bird Solutions will be bringing his trained hawk to the centre on a regular basis to show the cocksure pigeons who rules the roost as the bird of prey circles around in a predatory manner.

Kingfisher centre director Ian McLelland said a number of methods of ridding the centre and the bus station of the vermin had been employed in the past but to no avail.

"We used plastic owls to scare them, that didn't work. We then spent £40,000 on spikes and nets in various areas, that didn't get rid of them either.

"This hawk will be used regularly to scare the pigeons. Once the pigeons get used to the idea of it being around and begin to enter the station and centre less, the hawk will be used on a less frequent basis.

"I didn't believe it until I saw it but these pigeons have actually learnt to walk into the centre along Evesham Street into Worcester Square.

"They actually wait until the doors open and then stroll in. It's ludicrous."

Mr McLelland said people feeding pigeons was a major contributory factor to the problem.