COUNCIL chiefs have been accused of taking "too long" to tackle Worcester's seagull problem.

Worcester City Council is going to ask its officers to prepare a fresh report on new ideas for reducing the population further.

But the move - yet another piece of work aimed at putting a coherent plan in place - has been criticised by the scrutiny committee's chairman.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, who runs the committee, says further debate will only "waste more time" and insists there are ways they can press ahead with now.

But the council's leader, Councillor Adrian Gregson, says he needs to be sure any more spending on gulls will not be a waste of taxpayers' money before earmarking hard cash.

At the moment the council only spends £5,000 a year on tackling seagulls, but could increase that to £20,000 if a bigger plan is agreed on.

But the latest move means any prospect of taking more action in time for the spring is unlikely.

Councillor Bayliss attended a meeting of the Labour cabinet to challenge the leadership on it.

"I'd suggest you would be wasting more time sending this issue 'around the houses', so to speak, instead of just getting on with it," he said.

"The message from the scrutiny committee was, 'I'm not sure why you want another review'.

"There are options out there, you've got to put your money where your mouth is."

But Cllr Gregson said: "The phrase 'actively managing the gull population' is the key one.

"We need a proper plan so what I'd propose is that we seek a report from officers on this issue - I am not prepared to commit more money until we have more information on it.

"It's very clear to me that gulls remains an issue, but it's a complex problem and there is no simple solution."

Earlier this month the council's scrutiny committee rejected the chance to draw up their own firm list of ideas, saying another debate on it would be worthless.

But some suggestions have already been cited by officers, including using gull-proof bins which the birds cannot open, flying a bird of prey around the city more regularly, and expanding the current tactic of fake eggs being left on roofs.

Population counts do point to a decline in recent years, with the nesting pair tally standing at 181 at the end of the last breeding season, down from 217 in 2013.

But that only accounts for Worcester city centre, not residential areas, where the birds have plagued areas like Blackpole Retail Park and St John's.