Duck feeders asked to stop over 'health hazard'

Residents have been told that feeding ducks and geese at a lake in Didcot is contributing to a "health hazard".

Didcot Town Council asked people to stop feeding the birds at Ladygrove Lake.

It said it encouraged more to come to the area, increasing droppings - and that the number of geese was becoming "unsustainable".

One parent said he did not see the number of ducks and geese as an issue, adding that people should be able to keep feeding them.

Resident Matt Booker said he took his son to feed the ducks at the lake, and was surprised by the request to stop.

"It seems a bit strange to me... Apparently there are too many ducks," he said

"I don't see it as an issue, to be honest.

"Particularly for our little son - he likes feeding them and seeing them."

Marta Rudnicka said she regularly brought the geese and ducks food, and does not intend to stop.

"I don't think they will put a policeman here, guarding the ducks," she said.

"The issue is that [the geese] don't have better places to nest.

"I don't think geese would choose to nest in a residential area if they had better places.

"It's just there is so little of the natural environment left and it's being eroded."

Tony Worgan is the deputy leader of Didcot Town Council and said people tended to feed the birds bread, which made them ill.

"Excess bread actually attracts rats and it means our water quality in the lakes is affected," he said.

"There are lots of complaints about the bird mess.

"People come home with ruined clothes, ruined trousers, kids fall over.

"The mess and the number of geese is becoming unsustainable."

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