Jasper scares off the birds

A BIRD of prey has been hired to help improve safety at a Scottish airport, it was revealed today.

Jasper, a four-year-old Harris hawk, will scare away seagulls near Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire.

A colony of birds, which pose a threat to aircraft during take-off and landing, have taken up residence on the roof of the nearby Scottish Water building. The company installed special £40,000 netting a month ago, but this method has led to a number of seagulls becoming trapped and injured.

Scottish Water has now called in the services of Jasper, one of a team of hawks from pest-control contractors Rentokil, in a bid to tackle the problem humanely.

The chestnut-brown bird will circle the building and its surrounding area to try to scare away the seagulls, who habitually use the roof as a breeding ground.

If this is successful it is hoped he will be used at regular intervals during the remainder of the breeding season.

Rob Crusher, head of energy and facilities management at Scottish Water, said: "Our priority is to humanely stop the seagulls trying to use the roof in the first place.

"We hope that using the hawk, in addition to the netting, will halt them this year, break the cycle and encourage them to nest elsewhere in future."

Steve Thomson, airfield operations manager at Prestwick Airport, added: "The action Scottish Water is taking is excellent because the gull colony that was there was a severe hazard because it was so close to our runways.

"We have risk-assessed it as a danger to air traffic in the area and we are delighted with the responsible action Scottish Water is taking."

Bill Hainey, a senior inspector with the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said: "Scottish Water is being very responsible and dealing with this matter in a very humane way. We hope that their actions will help alleviate the problem."