It may sound like a bit of a hoot, but office workers hope a pair of plastic owls will protect them from dive-bombing gulls.

Staff at Southern Water in Durrington, Worthing, have turned to the "guard owls" in a bid to scare seagulls from the roof of their four-storey office block.

In recent years, nesting gulls have become a low-flying hazard as they swoop on anyone they feel poses a threat to their chicks.

In some cases, members of staff have even been dive-bombed by aggressive gulls.

No one has been hurt but the birds have caused alarm and distress.

Managers at the water company decided something had to be done before the gulls began nesting again this year.

They turned to a method used by other firms in Sussex that have had a seagull problem.

As birds of prey, the owls are supposed to deter the gulls from nesting in the first place.

The firm's new recruits, dubbed Eric and Ernie, will be positioned on the rooftop of the company headquarters in Yeoman Road in the next few days.

Spokesman Malcolm Best said: "The seagulls have become a real problem so we decided we had to take action to stop them being such a nuisance.

"Someone came up with the idea of putting the big owls in place to scare the seagulls away so we ordered a couple of plastic birds.

"They have been quite a talking point and hopefully will resolve the problem."

Similar measures have been used at Brighton Magistrates' Court and by British Telecom in Eastbourne.