A resident besieged by dive bombing seagulls who left him bloodied and bruised in a previous attack was stunned when they used deterrent spikes above his home as a nest.
Last summer Martyn Green, from Totnes, Devon, was left with blood running down his neck when an angry gull pecked him in the top of his head.
After reporting the issue to his landlord a number of short metal spikes were placed around the roof to ward off the birds.
But a persistent pair have managed to nest there and have even hatched two chicks in the middle of the spikes.
As a result Mr Green has taken to wearing a hard hat to shield his head whenever he ventures outside his home.
The 63-year-old said: “It's a nuisance, the hard hats are hot and sweaty at this time of year.
"I had my bathroom decorated recently and the workmen even had to wear hard hats.
"I'm not sure what else can be done about it - they are protected. It's one of those things - I will just have to live with it.
"The adults are less aggressive after the chicks have fledged."
The birds are protected by law and it is an offence to remove them without a licence from Natural England.
The authority says local authorities and their contractors need to apply for licences to control gulls, which can include allowing the destruction of nests and eggs where appropriate.
At the time of the previous attack Mr Green said: "The male is particularly aggressive.
"The other day he came down, swooped up from behind me and stabbed me in the top of the head.
"I had blood that came running down the head and down the back of my shirt.
"I asked my landlords for help and they have agreed to change the chimney pots and put up some deterrents after the young have left.
"So a pain for this year but hopefully we won't have to go through this again next year.
"Sometimes you just feel like you are trapped within your own house.
"I'd like to come out and get my garden done but every time I do it just swoops for me."
