Even the prime minister has been drawn into the debate over how to deal with the antisocial birds that are terrorising Cornwall and beyond

They have attacked pensioners, children, dogs, even a tortoise. They have stolen countless chips, Cornish pasties and doughnuts from unwary holidaymakers. The tabloids (and broadsheets) have branded them killers, and even the prime minister has been drawn into the debate over what is to be done. It truly has been the year of the gull.

The latest attacks in Cornwall, south-west England – which appears to be the hotspot for attacks this summer – have left a 66-year-old woman needing hospital treatment and a four-year-old boy traumatised after his finger was savaged.

Sue Atkinson was pounced on as she walked her dog in Helston. She said: “All of a sudden I felt this whoosh. I saw it was a seagull and he came in again and cut the top of my head. I couldn’t see what was happening – I was oozing blood. It did frighten me. Apart from the fact I was bleeding, I was scared it was going to come back. It was like a scene from the film The Birds.” She staggered home and was taken to hospital, where her wound was treated.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sue Atkinson shows her head wound after she was attacked by a seagull in Helston, Cornwall

Four-year-old James Bryce was attacked as he munched a sausage roll during a holiday in St Ives. The gull appears to have been guilty of bad aim rather than evil intent, going for the snack but getting James instead.

His father, Alex, said the incident had left James “petrified” of seagulls. He said: “We’ve been coming to Cornwall for years and seagulls have always been a problem, especially in St Ives, but things have definitely got worse. Five years ago, if a seagull swooped for food, it would have been a ‘wow moment’ – now it’s happening every five minutes and is more malicious.”

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The gulls may or may not be in a frenzy; the media really are. The Times has branded the birds “killer seagulls”, while the Mail reported that seaside dwellers were calling them “public enemy number one”. The Star even claimed that “crazed” gulls across the Channel were divebombing migrants and had become a flying border patrol. But the Telegraph may have taken the biscuit when it reported that a “psychotic” gull had turned cannibal and been seen eating a starling.

No wonder politicians have felt the need to join the debate. During a visit to gull-hit Cornwall, David Cameron said there needed to be a “big conversation” about the birds.

Local authorities have taken action, ranging from painting lampposts in Truro with anti-gull paint that gives off a glow and deters them from landing to hoisting multicoloured flags in St Ives. Private businesses in Bristol, Bath and Gloucester have spent millions erecting netting to counter the problem. Some restaurants have taken to issuing customers with umbrellas or even water pistols.

Viola Ross-Smith, of the British Trust for Ornithology, is a self-confessed gull fan – who gets hate mail when she defends them. She expresses huge sympathy for people who are attacked by gulls and who have lost pets to them. “I’ve been divebombed perhaps five times. It can be a shock. They are big birds, they hit with a thump, and their cries can be blood-curdling.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Seagulls look for their next target in the fishing harbour of Looe, Cornwall.

Photograph: Mark Evans/Alamy

Ross-Smith says this is the prime time of year for gulls and people to clash. The birds have young that they are keen to defend, and more people are arriving on their holidays. There have long been tensions, though she accepts there seem to be more this summer.

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She points out, however, that the surveys suggest the numbers of herring and lesser black-backed gulls – the two types generally responsible for attacks – are down by about 30% and 48% in the last 15 years. She is worried by reports that some people seem to be seeking revenge – the body of one gull was left like an offering outside Bridport police station in Dorset. “We have to work out how to live with wild animals like gulls,” she said.

Try telling that to mother-of-four Emily Vincent, whose family pet – a Yorkshire terrier called Roo – died after being set upon by a gull nesting on her roof in Newquay, Cornwall. “It was like a horror film. I wouldn’t believe so much blood could come out of such a little dog.”

She is now too frightened to let her children play outside unsupervised. “The seagulls are still there, watching us. I’m scared it’ll be a child next. They’ve definitely got worse. Something’s got to be done about them.”