FRESH attempts are being made to clamp down on Worcester’s seagull problem – with council chiefs offering to meet the bosses at KFC to help sort it out.

The city council wants to arrange a meeting with the fast food chain in a bid to reduce the gulls from around Elgar Retail Park, in Black-pole Road.

It follows a request from councillor Alan Amos, who says the company is making the problem worse due to overflowing bins near its outlet.

The retail park has been plagued by seagulls in recent years, with Coun Amos also saying KFC customers regularly drop food nearby, which attracts the birds to the area.

Coun Amos, who represents Warndon, said: “The truth is, there continues to be a growing, serious problem.

“They cause damage and noise to residents’ property and cars.

“They’re a right nuisance.

“At the moment these gulls are getting free breakfast, free dinner and free lunch.”

He is calling for a “proper and effective regime of bin collections” to help reduce the problem, which first raised its head back in 2009 when the store opened.

Councillor Matthew Lamb, the cabinet member for cleaner and greener, has agreed to ask the restaurant for a meeting.

It comes despite the overall seagull population in Worc-ester falling, with the number of nesting pairs in the city fewer than 300 today, compared to 400 in 2006.

Coun Lamb said: “I am aware that Councillor Amos has had lots of concerns about this site for some time and will be happy to meet with him and the manager of KFC to resolve it.”

He also said claims about the seagull population is getting worse is “not supported by factual evidence”.

The city council spends between £5,000 and £8,000 a year dealing with the problem, paying a specialist contractor to plant fake eggs to fool the gulls.

A few years ago, eggs in Worcester were oiled to stop them hatching but the policy has long been dumped.

A spokesman for KFC said it was not “an isolated problem” for just the restaurant, as the bins on the retail park are communal ones which are filled up by many traders in the area.

He added: “We are always happy to speak with councillors about this issue.”