Pensioner fined £200 for feeding birds in her garden - to the annoyance of her neighbours

A bird-loving pensioner, who fed them in her garden, had her wings clipped with a bill of more than £1,100 after a court heard she was making life a misery for neighbours.

Each morning flocks of pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descended on her lawn and garden wall when she put out her seed mixture and other food, it was claimed.

Droppings soiled her neighbours’ washing, their cars were continually splattered and they felt threatened by “dive-bombing” birds at the village of Rhos-on-Sea in Conwy.

At Llandudno court it was said that Brenda Hawkins, 74, had refused to accept advice about merely using a bird feeder which would be inaccessible to larger birds.

Hawkins, of Brookfield Drive, Rhos on Sea, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a Community Protection Notice served on her in June, a step which was taken after previous attempts to persuade her to reduce the nuisance had failed.

Magistrates found Brenda Hawkins guilty. She was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £409, a criminal court charge of £520 and a surcharge of £20 – a total of £1,149.