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Hawkman Nick Robertson was left dumbstruck as he watched ten thousand screeching gulls nesting and fighting over 52 acres of rooftops at Lowestoft firm Jeld-Wen.

The door and window manufacturer, which employs 120 people at Waveney Drive next to Lake Lothing, says it needs to keep the numbers of birds down. Mr Robertson is now trying to tackle the gull crisis with the help of Willow who's a female Harris hawk. The species is native to the southern USA and South America.

Willow

Neighbours may see Willow at work in the coming weeks. Although trained not to attack or kill the gulls, the bird will mimic a bird of prey's typical hunting patterns to scare them off.

Nick Robertson from Hawkforce in Kent the scale of the problem has surprised him: "This is worst case I've ever seen in 17 years of doing this job all over the country. I was amazed when I saw the size of the colony here.

"I can see how it's been causing absolute misery for residents and workers. I'm determined to do something about it.''

Jeld-Wen's general manager Tom Horne says: "The sight of such a large bird of prey should help discourage gulls from returning to a location, as they will realise that it is not a safe place to live and will begin to disappear in large numbers.

"We expect to see a serious drop in bird numbers almost immediately."

Jeld-Wen

Jeld-Wen also plans to fly a peregrine falcon above the factory. And next year a European eagle owl will be tethered to the roof on occasions prior to the nesting season to ensure the gulls do not use the roof space for breeding.