NUISANCE birds may be a thing of the past thanks to pioneering plans to keep them at bay in a historic Suffolk town - with a falcon.At a recent meeting of the Bury St Edmunds Society, members voted against plans for netting to protect the town's Masonic Hall from pigeons.

NUISANCE birds may be a thing of the past thanks to pioneering plans to keep them at bay in a historic Suffolk town - with a falcon.

At a recent meeting of the Bury St Edmunds Society, members voted against plans for netting to protect the town's Masonic Hall from pigeons.

But they put forward an alternative solution - employing a falconer to scare away the nuisance birds.

“We decided that netting is very ugly, and would have a detrimental effect on the look of the building,” said society vice-chairman, Sarah Green.

“Then one committee member suggested a falconer as an alternative solution, as they are apparently employed on airfields to stop the birds being a nuisance to aircraft.”

Pigeons have long been a problem for the historic town, and for buildings such as the Masonic Hall - a grand Georgian building, which stands at the bottom of Churchgate Street in the shadow of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Last year, wire netting was installed at the Abbey Gate - at the entrance to the Abbey Gardens in Bury - to stop birds making a home for themselves in the walls of the archway.

The scheme, which was carried out by English Heritage in conjunction with St Edmundsbury Borough Council, was designed to protect and maintain the gate.

A wildlife feeding area and specially designed dovecote were also installed by the council in a bid to tempt the pigeons to eat and nest in a dedicated area of the Abbey Gardens.

“The Masonic Hall is a beautiful building, and would look very ugly if it was covered in netting,” said Mrs Green.

“We are always trying to think of the best ways to get rid of the pigeons, and a falconer is just an idea that was put forward at the meeting, but we think it is worth exploring and would definitely be a first for Bury.”