When, oh when, will East Lothian Council get to grips with the problem of seagulls which blight the summer season when you take advantage of the sun and outdoor life?

Well, let’s face it, you have to as the good weather is so infrequent and of late it has been wet and the temperatures seem have more to do with autumn than the summer.

I have lived in Musselburgh all my life and in living by the sea you become used to the incessant squawking and the 4am dawn chorus. What you don’t get used to is how the gulls swoop down on you and how aggressive they can be. Indeed, the problems of seagulls seem bigger than ever, as do the gulls themselves.

Even pest inspectors refer to them as ‘flying rats’. How very apt that description is, as they do breed like rats!

I get so enraged because the council would surely have to act if rats were commonplace in a particular area.

Only last Monday I was sitting reading the paper in the garden – yeah, it was dry and unbelievably muggy – and one of the ‘flying rats’ swooped down and killed a sparrow. I was left to clean-up the mess.

I am sure this must be a perennial problem for councillors at their surgeries and Musselburgh is not the only community in the county facing this problem.

Will culling contribute towards finding a solution to the problem? I don’t know, but come on East Lothian Council. Step up to the plate and do something.

John James Bush Street Musselburgh