A Darlington woman who has had her garden destroyed by defecating pigeons for the last seven months has been left disappointed by the lack of action from council officials.
Jennifer Uttley, 38, says that she feels "defeated" and "beaten down" after having her garden furniture and her four-year-old son's toys covered by bird poo on a daily basis.
According to the council resident, who lives on Bylands Way in the town, the issues first began when various projects across Darlington caused pigeons to start nesting under her solar panels - leading to her garden becoming a 'health hazard'.
But council officials insist that the concerns raised by the 38-year-old don't "constitute a statutory nuisance".
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Since February, the council tenant and her family have been terrorised by the "winged rats", which have seen garden umbrellas and her son Alex's toy bike damaged.
Mrs Uttley has now taken aim at the council for "letting young children live in homes that are so disgusting".
She said: "It's got to the point where we can't put our washing out and our garden furniture has been destroyed.
"The council have changed the gutters because the pigeons have blocked that.
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"I'm locked in talks with the council over the issues. They say that the pigeons don't constitute a big issue."
After seven months of battling the pigeons, the mother of one has admitted that she has been in tears and is starting to take issue with the smell of the pigeon poo.
She added: "During lockdown, me and my partner relandscaped our garden, and it's pointless now because the pigeons have destroyed it.
"We have to tiptoe across the garden or face standing in the pigeon poo."
In response to the issues, Darlington Borough Council has confirmed that it's working with the resident to try and resolve the issues.
A spokesperson for the council said: "We were concerned to hear that a resident was experiencing issues with pigeons and our housing teams are working with them to find a solution.
"Solar panels were fitted to around 300 council properties in 2015, and are owned by a company which offers solar energy benefits to our tenants, to help reduce bills.
"Over the past year, a small number of tenants with solar panels have raised concerns about pigeons. As we don't own the panels, we have been supporting tenants by working with the owner of the panels and environmental health.
The spokesperson added: "Investigations have revealed that the pigeons are not causing issues to a level that constitutes a statutory nuisance, we are working with the company to find a solution.
"We are aware that the company has installed netting to a property where repair works were being carried out, but we understand this has not resolved the issue so we are continuing to explore options.”
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