A landlord who gave his tenants four weeks to move out an East London flat returned to find a flock of around 40 pigeons had taken their place – and extensively redecorated.

The birds moved into the property after the evictees left a patio door ajar, and the droppings they landed on almost every surface have left the owner with a £15,000 bill.

Kitchen worktops, sofas, window sills, carpets and clothes are all covered with crusty guano, resulting in a scene that looks like a bizarre modern art installation.

Pest controllers brought in to handle the situation described the stench of the place as ‘overwhelming’.

They compared the flat to Mexico’s Roca Partida island, a popular diving spot that is coated in a layer of white from seabird droppings.

The landlord, who did not want to be named, admitted to the Mail Online that he should have checked his flat after the tenants vacated it.

He said his eyes ‘popped out of his head’ when he saw the mess, and he called in the London Network for Pest Solutions.

Paul Cooper, the company’s managing director, told the news site: ‘The landlord took one peek inside and called us immediately.

‘The pigeons had redecorated throughout leaving the home in a complete mess.

‘It took the pigeons just four weeks to wreck the place.’

He said the two-bed property would be ‘out of action’ for around a month, while it is ‘cleared, cleaned, redecorated and refurnished’.

In a blog post, the business pointed out that a quick post-tenancy check for pests would have cost the landlord £150.

Earlier this year, residents of the St Jude’s area of Plymouth called for action after they were also targeted by loose-bowelled pigeons.

A gang of 60 birds had been incessantly leaving their droppings on window ledges and doorsteps up and down Desborough Road, costing homeowners hundreds of pounds to fix.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Craig Munro

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