George Marshall (Letters, August 14) and Paul Brazier (Letters, August 16) are spot on, apart from one thing.

Herring gulls are not protected. They are among a select few species of birds which are exempt from protected status and you only require a general licence to cull them.

Brighton and Hove City Council and the RSPB do not want people to know this.

The council doesn't want to pay for the extermination or removal of this pest (gulls are in the same classification as rats mentioned in Paul Brazier's letter).

The RSPB probably feel if this was common knowledge there might be a free for all on seagulls, thus harming populations of the actual protected species of gulls like the little gull, common gull (that's a bit of a misnomer) and black headed gull.

But the herring gull and the greater black-backed gull (another exempt species) are doing a very good job of decimating the populations of all the bird species these pests meet.

In fact, the staple diet of the greater black-backed gull, which thankfully isn't as common here as the herring gull, is listed in Collins Birds Of Britain And Europe as eggs and young of shore birds and seabirds and carrion of waste.

Finally, Gloria Wheatcroff, whose wishful thinking would have us believe the herring gull population is declining, should read the Network Pest Control technical information sheet of May 1999 which says the herring gull population nesting on roofs is increasing at the rate of 10 per cent every year.

Alternatively, she could just open her eyes and ears the next time she goes anywhere near the seafront.

-Andrew Jarmin, Hove