A woman will be thrown out of her home for defying a court order to stop feeding pigeons.

Margaret Waite, 58, will be evicted from her home on March 7 unless her lawyers appeal against the action and win.

Residents in Mrs Waite's block of flats in Swanborough Court, Brighton, say the flocks of pigeons and their mess have made their lives a misery and affected their health.

Cheryl Sergeant, 49, said she had already arranged to move to a different block before she heard of Mrs Waite's impending eviction.

She said: "I couldn't take any more of it. I love this area but I just couldn't stand all the pigeon mess.

"I feel so sad because she could have stopped this.

" If she'd just fed about ten birds people would have accepted that, but there's been up to 150.

"I don't want to see her out on the streets but what else could the council do?

"They have begged her to stop.

"I just hope she can live in peace wherever she goes."

Brighton and Hove City Council said they had sent in evidence to Brighton County Court that Mrs Waite has defied the feeding ban.

Mrs Waite, who suffers from emphysema and said she is terminally ill, said she would not survive on the streets if she was thrown out.

She said she has not been feeding the pigeons but they continued to flock to her balcony because they had come to expect the scattered crumbs.

Mrs Waite said: "I can't be out on the streets. I have to take tablets and oxygen and I have a nebuliser.

"All I am trying to do is stay in the warm with my dogs and my birds. Even if they offered me a place I can't accept it because they are never going to let me alone."

Mrs Waite began feeding the birds outside her flat five years ago.

When neighbours complained, council officers asked her to cut down the feeding sessions.

Even so, the number of pigeons flocking to the area doubled to more than 50 each time.

Mrs Waite claimed she had been verbally abused and nicknamed the "mad bird woman".

The council offered Mrs Waite the choice of moving to a bungalow with a garden where she could carry out limited bird feeding but she declined.

A spokesman for the council said: "Unless something radical changes she will definitely be evicted on March 7.

"There are no plans for the council to rehouse her. If she is evicted, it would be Mrs Waite's responsibility to find somewhere to live and there are council services or advisers to assist with that."

The council is under no obligation to rehouse Mrs Waite as she is being evicted.