Windsor man, 79, condemns housing association over pigeon poo problem

A Windsor man has condemned his housing association for failing to fix a long-standing problem with pigeon poo.

Walter Ansell, 79, has lived with his stepsister Margaret, 65, at a flat in Old Windsor run by Abri for nearly two years.

But since January 2023, they have had to endure pigeon mess littering their balcony from birds nesting above the property.

“It’s horrible,” said Walter. “I don’t know if you’ve seen bird poo like this before.

“It’s all over the windows, on the paintwork and the door, on the steps, on the floor of the balcony, it’s really terrible out there.”

Walter and Margaret both live with COPD, a respiratory condition, but the smell from the pigeon mess means they can’t open windows to help their breathing.

And for Walter – who once worked as a fishmonger – the situation had become untenable.

“The smell’s so bad and you’ve got all the flies, and now the summer’s coming it’s going to get worse,” he said.

“We’re stuck in our bedrooms 24/7, we can’t open any windows or anything.”

Abri did arrange for the balcony to be cleaned last summer but, as the nesting birds weren’t removed, the problem has piled up again.

A pigeon spotted on the roof of Walter's home

Walter said he had witnessed flocks of up 15 pigeons visiting the balcony, many of which were now living above their flat.

“They [Abri] haven’t been because they blame it on the weather being wet and things like that.

“Because they can’t very well sluice [wash] the balcony down because the bird poo will go down to the ground floor and the lady down there won’t want that.

“They have to use a special type of substance – come in in white suits and masks so on.”

Despite contacting Abri multiple times to fix the problem, Walter added there was still no solution to the avian aggravators.

“They’re telling me they can’t shift the pigeons while they’re nesting – they were supposed to be doing this [getting rid of the pigeons] in the spring.

“Pest control doesn’t want to know, the man said ‘it’s too big of a job for me’. It’s been going on too long now and now our rent’s gone up and this problem’s still here.”

Colin Gallaugher, commercial services director at Abri, said the housing association apologised for delays and that it was working with a professional bird control expert to fix the issue.

He added: “We have plans underway to clean the balconies and block access points to prevent pigeons from returning.

“In line with environmental legislation, we are unable to disturb the birds/nests during nesting season so hope to complete this work in July.

“We have also reminded customers to keep balconies clear of food items to reduce the risk of pigeons returning.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and do all that we can to help resolve the matter.”