A sandwich shop is considering introducing a £1 ‘seagull insurance’ on all purchases as the pesky birds are nicking grub from up to 30 customers a day.
The Cheesy Toast Shack, based in St. Andrews, Scotland, currently offers free replacements to dozens of customers daily due to seagulls swooping down and snatching their freshly-bought food.
This is costing the business hundreds of pounds each day, leaving the owners desperate for a solution.
They’re now seriously contemplating adding the gull insurance to every purchase to help cover the losses caused by these feathered fiends.
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Co-owner Kate Carter-Larg, 35, said: “The gulls are super aggressive and actually terrifying. We are a family run business and I can’t just sit and watch a sandwich get stolen and not replace it, so I’ll always give another for free.
(Image: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
“But it is really an issue and it’s been costing us a lot of money – people are even left bleeding after the gulls swoop for the food!
“We get old women emailing us saying: ‘I’ve nearly rolled my ankle because of seagulls’, we have children crying too from it. People will come to take photos of our sandwiches – and the minute they hold toastie up for a pic – all the seagulls dive bomb them. People left bleeding, they really are a problem.”
Kate admits the seagull attacks have been ‘increasingly’ worse over the last three years.
Kate and her husband, Sam, 39, have tried everything to deter the gulls from their beachside business, from playing bird of prey noises to buying a bird of prey kite on Amazon. But nothing seems to work.
(Image: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)
Kate confessed: “The bird noises were not the vibe we ideally wanted down at the beach, and the bird kite we bought didn’t do anything – people will sit under them and the gulls will still keep attacking, we have been lost for what else we can do.”
As the gull attacks became more frequent, Sam came up with the idea of offering optional ‘gull insurance’ – a way to replace customers’ food while also supporting the business in their compassionate endeavours.
Kate shared: “Our business is super family-run. It’s not just a faceless business and we want people to remember nice gestures people do.”
The Cheesy Toast Shack was established in 2015 as a street food trailer, making its way around festivals across the country.
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