Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Gulls strike in supermarket theft ahead of turf war with birds in Moray

This seagull was caught on camera stealing a shopper's bacon as she packed her car with groceries. 
This seagull was caught on camera stealing a shopper's bacon as she packed her car with groceries. 

Gulls have struck the first blow ahead of a turf war for territory in the north-east.

One of the birds has been caught on camera lifting a pack of bacon out of a shopper’s trolley in Elgin.

The crafty creature waited until the woman’s back was turned before swooping in for the steal in the town’s Asda car park.

Footage of the theft had been viewed more than 13,000 times online yesterday within a day of the incident – but it is understood the culprit is still at large.

Last night, it was revealed that business leaders in the area have now approved a laser project in an attempt to push the birds out of Elgin’s town centre with the first sweeps due to take place in the coming weeks.

However, war continues to be waged at the Edgar Road retail parks with the gulls known to mass together on the roofs of shop units and on abandoned ground near the railway line.

It is understood that shoppers at Asda have now been warned to bury appetising snacks at the bottom of trolleys to avoid being surprised.

Last year, Elgin’s business improvement district (Bid) promised action against the birds in order to encourage them to leave the town in favour of a more natural habitat.

Yesterday, Elgin City South councillor John Divers, who is a director of the Bid, revealed laser treatment had now been given the go-ahead.

He said: “It’s due to start very soon. Discussions have taken place with a firm who have used it very successfully in Aberdeenshire so we’re going to see if it can work here too.

“It’s been a worry in Elgin for years. They’ve moved inland in search for food, and now instead of scavenging for it they are resorting to stealing it.”

Moray Council has previously considered deploying drones in the conflict to oil eggs belonging to the feathered foes, which are protected by legislation, to prevent them from hatching.

However, the local authority decided against action due to the expense and it not being legally obliged to act against the birds.

Signs have been posted in town centres and on residential estates across the region to tell people to stop feeding them.