A woman suffered an asthma attack and feared for her life after being struck multiple times on the head by a gull.
Bev Dee, 56, was walking her dog to a grooming salon on Tuesday, June 20, when the incident happened on Thames Way in Caister.
"It was pretty scary," she said. "All of a sudden I got whacked in the back of the head."
There were two gulls and one of them grabbed hold of Ms Dee's glasses and pulled them from her face.
"I screamed. I put my head down to protect my eyes but they still got at me."
When Ms Dee, who has asthma, escaped from the gulls and got to Breydon Way, she collapsed on the ground barely able to breathe.
"I grabbed a wall and went down on one knee to get my breath back.
"I honestly thought that’s how I was going to die, because of my asthma, I was that petrified," she said.
Ms Dee is not the first person to report encounters with aggressive gulls in Caister, where the seabirds have been nesting on rooftops.
The gulls lay their eggs in April and May and the chicks hatch from May to June.
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Dr Viola Ross-Smith, of the Thetford-based British Trust for Ornithology, said that herring gulls, which are on the RSPB's red list of endangered birds, are "protecting their chicks at this time of year".
"They don’t want the chicks to be harmed in any way or to die, they are trying to defend their young.
"When the chicks have fledged, which should be quite soon, it should calm down," she said.
Dr Ross-Smith said she understands why people feel intimidated but that it is "one of the tricky times of the year when gulls are aggressively defending their young".
Gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which means it is illegal to capture, injure or destroy any wild bird or interfere with a nest or eggs.
Other people have reported similar encounters on Thames Way, while there have also been attacks on Hebrides Way and Carter Close.
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To ward off the gulls, Julie Burgess has placed a fake eagle in her garden on Gaywood Close.
"The sea gulls don't like him and the small birds are not bothered and still come in. It won't help if your walking but it definitely keeps them away from our garden," she said.
Another local woman who did not wish to be named said: “We are virtually prisoners in our homes unless we wish to be relentlessly physically attacked and pooped on by adult birds just leaving our homes or trying to get to our cars."
She called on residents to contact MP Brandon Lewis and Great Yarmouth Borough Council to get something done about the issue.
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A spokesperson for the borough council said: “Gulls are intelligent, social birds who choose to nest together with close access to food with colonies nesting on roofs causing issues that impact on people’s quality of life in the community.
"Residents are reminded that the feeding of gulls and the irresponsible disposal of food waste can have an impact in their wider neighbourhood."
Ms Dee, who will now have to pay for a new pair of glasses, thinks the council should put a sign on Thames Way to warn people about the gulls.
"I’d never have gone that way if I knew," she said. "I'm not walking past there again."
If anyone witnesses a neighbour excessively feeding gulls, they can contact health@great-yarmouth.gov.uk.
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