"IT'S like The Birds" – the words of one resident in a street besieged by a vicious seagull.
Aidan Mills-Thomas said the violent bird has been attacking people outside his home in Priory Street, Battledown. He said the seagull is so dangerous that even a "burly" house painter he hired to renovate his home was forced to down his brush while the bird remains in the area.
The 63-year-old said: "It's like a scene out of The Birds – it really is. "I called the council about it but they said it was not the council's policy to do anything about seagulls.
"We've had a house painter in but the gull attacked him as well.
"We agreed that he could not continue, especially while he worked on the ladder because we knew, if he did, he might fall and kill himself.
"It sounds trivial but these things are not," he continued. "I appreciate wildlife as much as the next person. I love birds but only in the right place.
"Are we going to have to wait until someone loses an eye before something is done?"
It is thought seagulls have moved to the area after a hawk was introduced to The Brewery in the town centre to ward them off.
The Priory Street gull has also been swooping down to peck at resident Ben Taylor, 38, and his young children.
They now fear leaving their home in case the bird attacks again, and Ben is calling for the authorities to take extreme measures and shoot the seagull.
He said: "It's frustrating. There is a baby seagull up there and its mother is being very protective and acting extremely aggressively to an extent that it swoops down to my children.
"I was scared to leave the house with my kids because it is swooping down every time you collect your bin or go to the car. I would like to see it fired at and taken away."
Sarah Clark, the council's public and environmental health team leader, said it does take action to tackle the town seagull problem.
"Cheltenham Borough Council carries out yearly egg oiling at nests that have been reported to us and at sites we have previously treated," she said.
"Once the eggs have been treated, they do not hatch and the birds have no young to protect.
"This makes them less disruptive and caps the birds' population growth. However it does not deal with problems from adult birds.
"Proofing is the most effective and sustainable method of gull control, as it prevents nest building. This work should be undertaken by a responsible, specialised pest control company because of the potential risk involved. Proofing should be done outside the nesting season as interfering with these nests can be illegal."
The gulls are also attacking in other parts of Cheltenham. Sean Mordan works in the St James area of the town. He said: "For the last 2 months they have made my journey to and from work a living hell, on one occasion I nearly got run over trying to flee from another attack, I have to take a different route into work now – adding 10 minutes to my journey. "It's not on, let the council take a beak in the face or a discharge on the head from an attacking seagull and see how quickly they would act to get rid of them" Nathan Glasspool, 23, is regularly attacked at his home in Winchcombe Street. He said: "I have been hounded by seagulls since May. It started attacking us for sitting on our flat roof, it then escalated to being swooped on whilst I was in my apartment. "I had to keep my blind down so that they didn't know I was in as they would dive at my window continuously whilst I was watching television. "Things got worse in June where I could not leave the house without being attacked. "I have to run for cover under the tree and wait until he is out of sight before continuing down the street. "Even when I return to the property he spots me and swoops at me anywhere within a 200 metre radios of the property. "I was hoping it would stop when the nesting season was over but it seems set to continue. "This morning, like every morning I was woken at 5am by screeching from every rooftop in the street. "I can't believe that the council is putting the safety of these menacing birds before residents. "To be told to take an umbrella or where a hat to work in the height of summer is ridiculous. "The other piece of advice from the council is to avoid the affected areas. "It's MY property, how can I possibly avoid it? "The situation is only getting worse as the gulls slowly become more daring and confrontational because they don't fear humans."