GULLS are suspected of ripping open bins leaving 'disgusting' rubbish strewn all over a city centre street as a restaurant owner calls the situation 'a nightmare'.

Rubbish is scattered all over Pierpoint Street, off Foregate Street, in Worcester on Friday after she raised concerns previously about the mess, including rats.

The resident, who did not wish to be identified, said: "This is the mess this morning. The seagulls have had a feast."

It is not the first time she has raised concerns, taking photos in February showing the mess after she expressed similar concerns.

Worcester News: MENACE: Gulls are suspected of ripping open the rubbish bags in Pierpoint Street in Worcester MENACE: Gulls are suspected of ripping open the rubbish bags in Pierpoint Street in Worcester (Image: Getty Images)

"A resident of the flats above Aurora said when the bins and black bags are eventually moved that the area is overrun by rats. The bins are out there now and the smell is disgusting," she said.

A spokesperson for the Aurora Experience said the rubbish did not involve the restaurant and she had twice raised concerns personally about the issue with Worcester City Council.

She said: "They're not our bins and I have reported this to the council. It's an absolute nightmare. We don't know who those bins belong to. It's giving us a a bad reputation and it's nothing to do with us at all.

Worcester News: MESS: Rubbish strewn over the pavement and road near the bins in Pierpoint Street in Worcester MESS: Rubbish strewn over the pavement and road near the bins in Pierpoint Street in Worcester (Image: Supplied)

"It's people leaving their rubbish there which is causing a nuisance to the business and the public as well. I don't want people to keep on putting bins there and chucking bags there. It's causing a problem for us. It's causing the business harm. We want the matter resolved as soon as possible."

She explained that their own bins were secure behind a door at the premises.

A survey of Worcester’s gulls in 2020 estimated that the city had 1,072 breeding pairs but Cllr Alan Amos, an outspoken critic of the gull problem in the city, says numbers have increased since then.

Worcester News: CONCERN: The bins in Pierpoint Street pictured in February CONCERN: The bins in Pierpoint Street pictured in February (Image: Supplied)

Cllr Alan Amos, now the last Conservative councillor on Worcester City Council, said: "It really proves that warning that I have been giving over the last few years - the gull problem is now out of control and it's getting worse every year.

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"I was the only one who voted against rescinding the public space protection order which makes it an offence to feed the gulls. The council is not taking this matter seriously. This is why we're now in the situation we're in. The number of gulls is the highest we've ever had. The council is not taking effective measures to deal with the problem and this, of course, is the consequence."

The City Centre PSPO (public space protection order) was introduced by Worcester City Council in 2021 and expired at the end of March.

We have approached Worcester City Council for a comment.