Charity abseil cancelled due to seagull dive-bombing threat

A charity abseil down the side of a hospital has been postponed due to fears seagulls would dive-bomb fundraisers.



The 100-foot abseil, down Yeovil District Hospital, in Somerset, was due to take place this weekend to raise funds for a new special care baby unit. But organisers were forced to cancel the event when a seagulls' nest containing baby chicks was discovered yards from the launch site during final preparations.

A spokeswoman for the Flying Colours campaign, which aims to raise £500,000 for the unit, said the event would take place once the birds had moved on. "The seagulls are fiercely protective of their offspring, and even during the inspection the inspectors were dive-bombed by the seagulls," she said.



“The irony of the situation is not lost on us, as we postpone an event to raise money for our special care baby unit because of some quite different special baby care taking place on our roof.”