A mother worried seagulls will attack her children has hit out at Brighton and Hove council for not doing anything to protect them.

Julia Elliot, of Tennis Road, Hove, says the birds are nesting on her roof and have already attacked foreign students lodging with her.

Mrs Elliot said: "One of the Japanese lads was swooped on three times the other day.

"I rang pest control at the council and they said there was nothing they could do about it.

"Their advice was not to go in the garden.

"I have two young children aged seven and six and it is the middle of the summer holidays. I am annoyed no one can do anything to stop the seagulls.

"If they were rats or squirrels, they could be classed as pests and controlled but squirrels are not nearly as bad as seagulls.

"The birds used to take the dustbin lids off and then take the food out so I put bricks on the lids. I don't know what to do because I do not feed or encourage them."

A spokeswoman for the city council said: "Seagulls are protected species by law and are not regarded as pests so the council cannot do anything about them.

"The herring gull is viewed as a bird of conservation so it is even more protected. Seagulls see the city as their natural habitat."

For advice on dealing with seagulls, contact the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on 01273 763600.