Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was allegedly seen punching a seagull on a beach in Cornwall.
The incident occurred in the picturesque seaside town of St Ives on Wednesday, with social media posts reporting the bird had swooped on the man’s food.
One person wrote: "This absolute tool just gripped a seagull and punched it to the point that it's dying in a corner on the beach, all in front of the whole slipway.
“I don’t care what you think about seagulls being a nuisance, they don’t know they are doing anything wrong."
They added: "After the incident, we put the gull in a quiet corner out the way, as I know that quite often shock can be the worst thing for a wild animal, by the time I had finished my shift and got ready to go home, it was up, and trundling around, when we went to go and see it to leave it was gone.
"I'm really hoping it was just some extreme shock, but also know it had a sizeable rupture on its chest and took some ridiculously hard punches.
“If anyone has any CCTV footage related to the incident, I’d really appreciate having it – as the police want it."
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take any seagull, or to damage or destroy nests and eggs.
Despite this, the birds are commonly seen as a nuisance, with politicians in Scotland calling for a seagull summit to be held amid warnings someone could be killed.
Devon and Cornwall Police said they had received a report and issued an appeal for witnesses.
The force said: “We are appealing for witnesses and footage following a report of a seagull being attacked in St Ives. Devon and Cornwall Police received a third hand report about the incident which is said to have taken place on the seafront on the afternoon of Wednesday 10 June.
“Social media posts stated that a man punched and beat a seagull. Despite posts being widely shared online, the matter was not reported to us by anyone present at the scene.”
Officers are urging anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has relevant footage, to get in touch via 101 or on the Devon and Cornwall Police website quoting 50260148881.
