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A rail company has asked customers to stop feeding pigeons, after a "long-running battle" with the nuisance birds.

Northern said they had been nesting at stations and causing problems with their "hazardous and corrosive droppings".

Rail users at Castleford and Bingley stations have been spotted giving them food, according to the operator, which has caused more to flock there.

Despite trialling a number of methods to get rid of them, the pigeon problem has persisted, the firm said.

In Morpeth station, plastic owls were installed to keep the birds away and pre-recorded hawk noises were played at Driffield station.

The roof at the East Yorkshire station was also smeared with fire gel, which appears as ultraviolet light to pigeons and tricks them into thinking a surface is too hot to land on.

However, only spikes and netting have proved to be effective in stopping the birds from nesting on the roof, though the firm said the pigeons had just moved to other parts of the station.

Matt Rice, Northern’s chief operating officer, said: "We know the vast majority of our customers do not want to be bothered by pigeons at our stations, so we have looked into several humane ways of keeping these stubborn birds away.

"We’re urging customers to help us deal with this pest problem by making sure they don’t feed any of the pigeons or leave food lying around."

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