BMW showroom forced to provide umbrellas against seagull bombardment

A BMW showroom was forced to provide umbrellas to customers because of an "aerial bombardment" from seagulls attracted to a nearby waste site. The gulls have been blamed for peppering the cars and customers with droppings, dive-bombing staff and even dropping leftover chicken carcasses. The problem has got so bad, bosses at the Vines dealership in Guildford, Surrey, are now handing customers brollies and telling them to beware of the gulls.



Workers at the showroom say they get 'splattered like a dalmatian' if they stand about too long in the forecourt, which is right next to a waste transfer station where rubbish is taken before being sent to landfill sites. Mark Hollands, the principal dealer at Vines, said the waste site - managed by SITA on behalf of Surrey County Council - is making life a misery and is costing them thousands extra to clean and repair cars.

He said that dustcarts dump their loads at the site at least three times a day and that this is now attracting up to 100 gulls at a time who scavenge on the leftover grub. He said: "We have to warn our customers to use umbrellas when they are out on the forecourt. If you don't run to the showroom from your car, you will look like a dalmatian.



"We have had chicken carcasses and tea bags dropped on our forecourt. Chicken carcasses, dropped from a great height, will dent the cars. The worst thing is that bird poo eats the paint work. It has acid in it, and if you let it lie on the cars too long it will damage the paint." He said that the reason for the birds being attracted to the site is that the rubbish has been left uncovered for the past month - whereas previously workers at the site had ensured all waste was fully hidden from gulls.