Bosses at Aberdeen Football Club have moved to reassure fans that they are doing all they can to deal with over-intrusive gulls at Pittodrie, following a number of recent complaints.
Scores of fans raised concerns about the birds following this month’s Europa League qualifiers against FK Shkendija and Rijeka.
However, the club has confirmed they are employing a fully licensed company to tackle the problem, using a number of methods, including flying a hawk to scare off the gulls.
A club spokesman said: “Aberdeen FC has adopted a strong policy regarding the city wide problem with seagulls. The club has employed for the past few seasons now a fully licenced company who specialise in eradicating and controlling these birds. This company have been taking care of the nests and eggs three times a week to keep the birds controlled.
“Currently Aberdeen FC has no nesting in and around the actual stadium buildings, however we cannot control this out with our boundary and birds are nesting in and around the flats around the stadium.
“We continue to have a hawk flying during the week at Pittodrie and also an hour before doors open on match days. In addition to this, last year we installed an automatic audible warning system which distributes various distress calls from different birds to act as a deterrent. For obvious reasons we cannot fly birds of prey during games.
“Seagulls are very intelligent birds and will always gather where a large crowd of people are and where food is consumed so we would urge all fans to take care and use the bins provided for unwanted food which will assist in controlling the seagulls.”
The Dons also encouraged fans to send their complaints to the city council in order to help combat the problem.