Your young correspondent, Ossie Moore, aged 11 (Herald, August 16, page 4), is to be congratulated on his lucid and factual letter about the problems with seagulls.
The most difficult question is what can best be done to reduce their numbers in a way which is not cruel.
The people who are in favour of taking no action at all are very few; perhaps they have not been mobbed by seagulls, which can be horribly distressing. Probably the best way of dealing with such incidents is to report them to the local authorities, who are aware of public feelings on this subject.
It is inadvisable for members of the public to break the law, or risk breaking the law and being prosecuted.
I am sure that readers of the Sidmouth Herald are grateful to the editor and his team for publishing the letters on the Opinion pages so that the public can make their voices heard.
VM Brown
Lennnox Avenue
Sidmouth
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