Bosses at Wetherspoons have warned that they will not be refunding or replacing dinners that were stolen by the birds as pubs across the UK take drastic measures to stop the thefts
Pub bosses have gotten in a flap over psycho seagulls, trying to keep the thieving birds from stealing people’s food. Some restaurants have even gone as far as to introduce netting to protect diners.
But management at Wetherspoons warned they won’t replace food snatched by the marauding birds. They will, however, make sure their premises are as free from the gulls as possible — by taking on a bizarre method to keep them away.
The protective measures have been placed over the beer gardens of a string of seaside boozers up and down the nation. And they have been forced to erect signs warning of the dive-bombing gulls in other locations where the netting isn’t an option.
A customer wrote on a Wetherspoons Facebook page: “Sat outside the spoons in Bridlington. When a family got up to leave, a flock of the buggers swooped down and cleared any food left on the plates.”
Nets have been installed in a number of coastal boozers, including in Eastbourne, Cleethorpes, Deal and Hastings, all affecting the south and east of the UK. But it turns out that the bonkers birds have also become a problem at riverside alehouses as well, with some inland pubs and restaurants also being brazenly targeted by the birds.
A sign at the Globe Hotel in King’s Lynn tells punters: “Be extremely vigilant when ordering food to the back garden, as there are seagulls. We are not liable to replace any stolen or damaged food/drinks. Thank you for your understanding.”
Nets have been a regular occurrence at the pub after they were first introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the birds went out of their way to try and score some food, with some even dying after getting trapped in the netting itself, with pub bosses needing to fix the netting itself.
Peeved punters have posted online about the siege by the seagulls at the Norfolk watering hole. Many customers said they were floored at just how low the seagulls were willing to stoop to get their meal.
One regular commented: “We always eat inside, then take a drink outside to watch the carnage.” A customer called Kay said they had seen a similar sign at The Royal Hop Pole at Tewkesbury, which also sits by a river.
And another user called Ian added: “I was at a Spoons in South Wales eating outside. The gulls were sat on a wall opposite watching people eat.
“They didn’t bother anyone,” the user continued. “But as soon as people got up to leave they flocked down to the table eating any food left behind.”
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.