Please don’t feed the pigeons!

A new campaign is asking people to stop feeding pigeons to help keep our town centre clean and tidy.

A campaign has been launched to ask people not to feed pigeons in Blackburn town centre and you may end up with a fine for feeding the birds.

The campaign will start with putting up signage asking residents not to feed the pigeons and explaining why.

Following this, anyone caught feeding the pigeons could face a fine, as they attract other vermin, carry and spread diseases which can be transmitted to humans and cause mess and destruction. By feeding pigeons means they are attracted to areas not natural to them, leading to nuisance behaviour and overcrowding.

Food given to pigeons can attract rats and leads to more droppings in the town centre. Pigeons can also spread diseases which can be caught by people, and the more pigeons there are, the higher this risk becomes.

It can also affect the pigeons’ ability to hunt for their own food.

Posters have been placed in Blackburn Bus Station and people spotted purposely feeding pigeons could end up with a £75 fine.

A particular problem has been noted around the bus station with the birds creating a mess inside and outside the station.

The Council is working with Blackburn BID to try and reduce these issues for the benefit of residents and visitors.

Jim Smith, Executive Member for Environmental Services, said:

Not only can it be potentially harmful to the pigeon population, it is very unhygienic especially as it leads to increased pigeon droppings. Any surplus food will also be scavenged by rats causing further issues.

Pigeons have their own natural sources of food, their digestion systems are not designed to eat human food, so feeding them does more harm than good.

We are working hard with local business to make sure they dispose of waste responsibly and we provide rodent proof waste bins across the town centre that the public can use to dispose of litter.

Our street cleansing teams work hard to make sure that Blackburn Town Centre is an attractive and clean environment for residents, shoppers and other visitors – but we need the public to play a part and help us do this.

We know people who feed the pigeons do this because they think they are helping, but they are actually creating problems and you could end up getting a fine.”

BID Manager Catherine Price added:

We know that pigeons aren’t interested in interacting with people – they’re just after your food.

But the mess and disturbance caused by feeding them leaves parts of the town centre looking dirty and unkempt.

One of the BID objectives is to ensure that Blackburn town centre is clean, green and as attractive as possible and residents, visitors and businesses can do their bit to help by not feeding the pigeons.”