A granddad says angry ‘snowflakes’ have branded him cruel and demanded he never returns to the seaside after he admitted to trying to kick a seagull after it pinched his ice cream.
Peter Lloyd, 58, was on a day out at the seaside in Llandudno, Wales, with wife Rita Lloyd, 61, and seven-month-old grandson Stanley when he decided to treat himself to a double rum and raisin and toffee-flavoured ice cream.
While buying his frozen treat, Peter says he was warned by the shop assistant to watch out for seagulls, but he was still surprised upon leaving the shop to find one of the birds swooping right for him and snatching the ice cream out of his hand.
Peter says he attempted to chase the ice-cream-loving bird down the street to ‘give it a kick’, but it managed to get away and settled on the other side of the street to eat its ill-gotten snack.
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Peter, from Flint, Wales, said: "I bought a double ice cream for me and Rita, the woman told me to be careful of the seagulls.
"I got to the crossing and there was one above me, Rita told me there was a shadow above me.
"I shooed it off and went to take a bite while we were waiting to cross the road. It was like something out of The Matrix, it happened in slow motion and its face was right in front of mine.
"I had the ice cream in my mouth and it crept forward and took the cone.
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"It could have been my face or eye. There's nothing you can do, I had the ice cream in my mouth and it came down right in front of me.
"It landed in the road so I walked over and said 'you bloody b*stard' and tried to kick it.
"Rita was laughing her head off. About five dived down and ate it in front of me, it was gone in about 30 seconds.
"Rita ate hers fine and I went and got another and we stood under a canopy.
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However, after sharing the incident on Facebook, Peter says he was flooded with comments from animal lovers who were less than impressed by his actions.
Peter was branded ‘cruel’ by one person for attempting to welly the seagull, while another wrote: "Do not go to the seaside if you hate the wildlife. This is disgraceful. It's criminal."
Someone else wrote: "And what did you hope to achieve by kicking the seagull?"
A third added: "Just walk away. No need for revenge."
Peter says he shrugged off the criticism and claimed those who were upset were simply ‘snowflakes’.
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Peter said: “People on Facebook were kicking off saying I'm not an animal lover, tourists are idiots, people shouldn't eat in the open and I shouldn't go back to Llandudno.
"They said you shouldn't eat where they can attack you. Do they want all the food stalls to shut down so the town dies because holidaymakers won't go? Some people have gone mad."
Claire Reid