IS there a seagull with a grudge against journalists in Worcester?

Well, no, but two Worcester News reporters have been attacked by a gull in the city centre, each suffering a hand injury.

In April 2016, Jessica Charles was about to tuck into a biscuit during a lunchtime stroll along Angel Place when the gull swooped and bit her hand.

Then, just this Monday, Sebastian Richards was walking along Angel Place, enjoying a steak bake, when a gull attacked, stealing his lunch and leaving him with a scratch on his hand.

Of course, it's unlikely that it was the same seagull (although they can live for up to 49 years and are known to stick to familiar places and have a long memory) with some kind of anti-journalist vendetta due to Worcester News articles on plans to cull them, but the latest attack has once again raised the issue of what should be done to reduce the number of gulls in the city.

The city council spends thousands of pounds a year on trying to tackle the seagull problem, paying a contractor to place fake eggs on roofs to deter gulls from leaving real ones, among other measures.

Recently, there was cross party support for raising the budget to £15,000 a year to deal with gulls, from a current £5,000 a year.

Still, the problem of the gulls persists, and the city's residents want a solution that works.