A Berwickshire councillor fears a repeat of herring gulls swooping and injuring people in Eyemouth

Seven youngsters were attacked within the space of a month last year and left with gashes to their scalps.

It led to claims that the gulls in the coastal town were “out of control” at the Harbour front and along the High Street.

Leading the calls for action has been East Berwickshire independent representative James Anderson.

He believes one of the solutions is the granting of egg oiling licences from NatureScot.

Egg oiling is a method of population control for gulls, particularly in urban areas, by preventing eggs from hatching.

It involves coating the eggshells with a thin layer of oil, typically corn oil or liquid paraffin, to block the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the egg and the outside air. This prevents the embryo from developing and hatching.

But although NatureScot has granted a licence to the Saltgreens care home in the town, a licence for Giacopazzi’s ice cream parlour – located at the heart of the problem – has been refused.

NatureScot say it “cannot issue a gull licence unless you can show that preventative measures have been considered or implemented, and that such measures will continue to be considered or implement alongside any licensed activities”.

Meanwhile, as the debate rages the issue of gulls and public safety will be discussed at a meeting of Scottish Borders Council later this month.

Kerry Waddell, director/sales & marketing manager at Giacopazzi’s, said: “Several of us in Eyemouth have had our licence applications refused this year again, with the only exception so far being Saltgreens.

“As you can imagine, we are all feeling pretty soul destroyed at this result, especially given all our efforts and work to ensure our applications contained the necessary evidence requested.”

Coun Anderson said: “Without action it is pretty much guaranteed that we will have a repeat of what happened last summer.

“I don’t understand why a licence has been granted to Saltgreens and not Giacopazzi’s, which is right next to Saltgreens, and whatever nests in their roof goes after the people in Saltgreens anyway. It’s nonsense.”

SBC has been working with businesses in the town to try and come up with a solution to the issue and a paper will be presented to full council on Thursday, June 26.