Calls to make it easier to control Edinburgh’s “menacing” seagull population have been rejected after the RSPB raised concerns over “serious recent declines” in some gull species.

Conservative city councillor Max Mitchell argued there should be “more flexibility” to allow removal of nest and eggs where the birds are disturbing residents.

“Lord Provost, seagulls are a menace,” he said while tabling a motion calling for changes to the current system. “They foul over the property which is not only unpleasant but a health hazard.