A bird-loving granddad says he has been told to stop feeding pigeons in his garden or he could face eviction .
Neighbours have recently complained about Craig Buist's habit and the housing association has spoken to the man.
But the 49-year-old has been putting out bird feed three times a day for the past four-and-a-half years, reports Bristol Live .
During that period, he bought two bags of bird feed at £4 each every couple of months.
"You can’t cause [birds] harm or stress and if I just stop feeding them I’ll be doing that.
"When you stand outside when they’re being fed, it’s near enough the same birds every time because I recognise the markings," Mr Buist, of Patchway, Gloucestershire, said today.
Mr Buist, who retired after suffering from a series of strokes, was inspired to feed birds regularly after visiting a duck pond with his granddaughter.
The former Network Rail employee estimates between 30-40 pigeons and 15-20 smaller birds, including "robins, blue tits and jays", visit his garden at once.
He alleges the first complaint in relation to the habit came late last year.
The grandfather added: "Before we had a chance to say anything he said, 'You’re in breach of your tenancy agreement and if you’re in breach of your tenancy agreement you risk eviction.'
"If they’d said don’t feed them three times a day I would have said, 'OK, we’ll only feed them twice a day',” Mr Buist said.
"Or maybe we could have fed them fewer times a week and cut it down gradually. But the landlord just wasn’t interested and said, 'It’s in your tenant agreement'."
Bromford Housing Association said birds can "cause a nuisance" but Mr Buist rejects this notion.
"You see things on the internet now about birds, saying there’s nothing for them to feed on and around here there’s not a lot of common land for birds anywhere.
"So I thought, feeding them in the garden, they’re not going to be disturbed by anything and there’s water for them there," he continued.
"I put out fresh water for them and sometimes I put salt in the water for them so there’s salt in their diet."
"It’s not like we’re feeding them junk food - all they’re eating is proper food.
"People [online] are saying it could cause rats. I said it’s not going to cause rats because when you see the birds in there, it’s like kiddies - they keep on eating and eating until the food is gone.
"So there’s never any left for rats - none of our neighbours has ever complained about rats."
But Natalie Robertson, Bromford's head of locality, said: "Following concerns that were raised to us we have spoken to Mr Buist to ask him to stop feeding wild pigeons in his garden, as they can cause a nuisance.
"But we are more than happy for customers to use bird tables and feeders to attract garden birds into their gardens.
"We have also not threatened to evict him and his family if they do not stop feeding the pigeons. We’re committed to supporting customers with their tenancies and only view eviction as an absolute last resort.
"We will continue to work with the family to resolve both their and their neighbours’ concerns going forward."
