A victim of a seagull attack has said he believes it's only a matter of time before the animals' aggression proves 'fatal' to someone, after gulls trapped him and his wife in their own home earlier this year.
Seagulls are known for their violent ways, often seen swooping down to take a bite from your Cornish pasty or stealing a chip from some poor, unassuming sod.
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But after one allegedly flew off with someone's pet chihuahua, pensioner Roy Pickard believes they could do much more harm than running off with the flake from your ice cream.
Roy and wife Brenda, from Knott End near Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, had been trapped in their home for six days as gulls were nesting above their front door - and attacked every time the couple left the house.
Roy, 77, even required hospital treatment for cuts on the back of his head he suffered after birds swooped to protect their young.
Speaking to The Sun, he said yesterday: "I don't think it's going to be long before a child is seriously injured or an elderly person falls trying to get away from a seagull and bangs their head, which could be fatal."
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Councillor Alan Amos, a former mayor in Worcester, also believes the birds could be more dangerous than we realise.
He told the newspaper: "It might sound ridiculous but I believe it won't be long before a baby becomes the next victim of Britain's increasingly aggressive seagulls.
"In Worcester these vicious and brassy flying rats have waged war on residents in recent years.
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"People and animals up and down the country are being victimised by these gulls, which have been known to grow as big as a dog."
Roy and Alan's comments follow this week's news that Gizmo, the beloved four-year-old pet chihuahua of Rebecca Hill, was apparently stolen by a seagull from her garden.
Hill, 24, claims the bird swooped down into her garden and made off with the pooch, who has not been seen since.
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Speaking to Devon Live, the 24-year-old said she and her partner are devastated: "It carried Gizmo a fair way as we couldn't see him anymore. I have no idea if he was dropped or where he is now."
Now there are even fears that Gizmo could have been eaten by the gull, with DogLost coordinator Wayne May telling The Sun: "It wouldn't be out of the seagull's remit to swallow a dog that size whole.
"If it's a black-backed seagull, it would be more than capable of swallowing a chihuahua.
"It doesn't look good. They are aggressive predators."
Roy also believes seagulls have a particularly nasty aggressive streak, having said last month in the wake of his attack that it could have been even worse for him had the bird struck him front-on.
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"If that bird had hit me in the face instead of the back of the head, I dread to think how seriously injured I would have been," Roy said.
"I had to go to Royal Lancaster Infirmary to get treatment but thankfully I could get in the car."
Featured Image Credit: SWNS