A survey commissioned by Compare the Market estimates that seagulls cost people in Britain £171 million each year through food being stolen or spoiled outdoors. The finding highlights the widespread nuisance posed by gulls in coastal and urban areas, particularly to people eating takeaway meals such as fish and chips.

The company’s “Great Greedy Gull Index” put the average loss from a gull incident at £5.50 and found that nearly three-quarters of respondents had been targeted. More than three-quarters said they had changed how or where they ate outside to avoid gulls, while almost a third had abandoned or dropped food; the firm is also funding a one-day £1,000 replacement-food offer at a Margate fish-and-chip shop.