A purge on pigeons and a clampdown on catering for seagulls was called for by Tenby councillors this week.

At a meeting of the town council on Tuesday night, members agreed that more signage was needed across the town to ask people not to feed the gulls, while councillors also asked what could be done to control the number of pigeons nesting inside the town's historic walls.

"What's happened to our 'do not feed the seagulls' signs," asked a concerned Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter.

"They all seem to have disappeared from the resort and seeing the amount of people openly feeding the gulls during the recent nice weather, some doing it clearly don't realise that they're doing something wrong and it should be discouraged.

"I know people think you're being miserable when you moan about it, but it's very dangerous, especially when the gulls are often known to swoop down and swipe a child's ice cream or something.

"We could do with a new batch of signs across the town, especially around food outlets," she added.

It was suggested that some of the signs had been stolen for scrap metal, so members agreed that it would be worthwhile looking into purchasing some perspex signs for the town.

Meanwhile, one councillor also thought it was time more control was brought in to control the number of pigeons in certain areas of the town.

"People laugh about it, but the mess that they make along the South Parade and on the iconic historic town walls is just horrible," said Clr. Lawrence Blackhall.

"Along that area, people tend to drop food and chips which encourages yet more pigeons and, although the street care guys from the council do a fantastic job cleaning it up, they only come around in the morning, so maybe we need some 'do not feed the pigeons' signage in that area?

"I know some measures were in place before to try and stop the pigeons nesting inside the town walls, but I really do think that it's a shame that the mess they cause is damaging Tenby's historic town walls and other monuments.

"Maybe we ought to write to CADW to notify them that the condition of the town walls is not good and see what plans they have to carry out any maintenance and repairs in the near future," added Clr. Blackhall.

Clr. Mrs. Brown said that at one time there had been a spate of locals buying bird feed for the pigeons along that area, which resulted in one person on a connected street ready to prosecute a resident responsible.

"It's a health hazard at the end of the day, and some specialised cleaning needs to be brought in to clear up the mess on the town's cobbles and walls," she remarked.