A seasonal publicity campaign warning people not to feed gulls has been rolled out in an historic city that, despite being more than 60 miles from the nearest beach, has a large population of the troublesome seabirds.
Worcester City Council is spreading the message, to coincide with the gulls’ breeding and fledging season, in a variety of ways including the sides of two refuse trucks serving the city centre.
That way it is reaching people in places where the problem is most acute – in the city’s shopping areas and by the river.
In the autumn the timely campaign – run on quick-change Spedian™ reusable graphics panels supplied by Roadvert – will be literally wrapped up.
The pictures of a gull inside a ‘no’ symbol displayed with the message ‘Feed the Bins, Not the Gulls’ will be removed will be rolled up and stored for use next year.
Kevin McFeeley, Transport Manager for Worcester City Council, said: “The river is a tourist attraction in the city and people like to feed the swans and geese but of course the gulls come too.
“The gulls go where the food supplies are, they nest on the tall buildings in the city centre.
“Many properties in the centre are unsuitable for wheelie bins so people have to put their rubbish out in bin bags and the gulls can attack the bin bags. They also forage on takeaway scraps and other food litter dropped in the streets.
“We are urging people to use the anti-gull sacks the council has provided and not to leave their rubbish out overnight if at all possible.
“Using two bin lorries to spread the message is ideal because they tour around the city centre and will be seen by the very people we want to reach.
“We can run the campaign again next June when the nesting season starts again.”
Roadvert has fitted all 15 of Worcester’s refuse and recycling fleet with Spedian™ graphics systems and the council is running several campaigns at once.
Two vehicles are advertising the council’s paid-for commercial waste and recycling service while another is promoting its paid-for household garden waste collections.
All the rest carry an educational campaign informing residents what they can and cannot recycle via their roadside collections – which has been having positive results.
Mr McFeeley said: “Our recycling rates are increasing and the quality of materials put out for recycling is good. People are paying attention to our messages.”
Spedian™ graphics can be installed or uninstalled in less than an hour. The entire system can be removed without damaging the vehicle as it requires no rails, rivets, nuts, bolts or screws.
