Barbara Simpson, 68, nicknamed the "birdwoman", was jailed in 1997 after neighbours complained her garden was six inches deep in nuts and seed.

She is now accused by neighbours of attracting noisy flocks of seagulls and sparrows outside her flat in Weymouth.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has threatened legal action.

'Compulsive urge'

Principle environmental health officer Jane Light said: "It is difficult because we are trying to be reasonable.

She couldn't bear to see the birds she has grown to love over the years starve

Purvaise Punwar

"If we can't get her to stop this excessive putting food out for birds then we have no choice but to go down the legal route.

"We are prepared to act," she said.

When Mrs Simpson came before Winchester Crown Court in 1997, the court heard that she had a compulsive urge to stock her 24-foot-square bird table with food.

Purvaise Punwar, Mrs Simpson's legal representative at the time, told the court: "The reason she broke the order was quite simply, try as she might, she couldn't bear to see the birds she has grown to love over the years starve."