A man on a day trip to the seaside has been handed a three-month curfew after he killed a gull because the bird knocked chips out of his hand.

John Llewellyn Jones, 64, was visiting Weston-super-Mare when the lesser black-backed gull flew around him trying to reach his chips and subsequently knocked his snack from his hand.

Jones, from Cardiff, reacted by catching the gull by its leg and smashing it into a wall during the incident on July 17 last year, which was witnessed by members of the public, including children.

The RSPCA said Jones was convicted at North Somerset Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Gulls are protected under section one of the act.

Jones was sentenced to an immediate 12-week curfew, applicable between the hours of 8pm and 8am.

Magistrates also ordered him to pay £750 in costs and a £85 victim surcharge, the RSPCA said.

The charity said Jones showed "blatant disregard for animal welfare" and "cared more for his chips than what his actions did to the poor gull".

RSPCA inspector Simon Evans said: "This was an unthinkable and despicable way to treat an animal - with this gull smashed against a wall by the man, solely because it knocked chips from his hand.