Aberdeenshire Council has spent almost £200,000 since 2010 trying to combat the nuisance birds.
The huge price tag covers the cost of removing the eggs of herring gulls from their nests and on bringing birds of prey into towns in order to scare them off.
New figures about the cost of frightening off the feathered fiends show that the sum total of the work has cost the council a total of £197,979.70 since 2010.
The local authority’s annual bill for “seagull control” has increased from £7,460 in 2010 to more than £30,000 in 2014.
An additional £82,052.70 pounds was spent employing a falconer at waste management sites in Banchory and Inverurie since 2010.
Peterhead and Stonehaven are also shelling out an additional £2,200 for similar falconry services to deter the sea birds from pestering the public.
Peterhead councillor Alan Buchan said a “fresh look” was needed in regard to seagull deterrents given the rising costs over recent years.
He said: “My own personal opinion is that the hawks are a waste of time.
“What you tend to find is that the seagulls mob against them and quite quickly the effect they have is limited.
“I really think the hawks have had their days and we are throwing good money after bad on that.”
A total of 60 complaints were made to the local authority about the troublesome birds last year, and this year there have already been a further 10.
A spate of complaints spurred the local authority to create an information leaflet, titled Survivor’s Guide To Living With Urban Gulls, which is available on its website.