BOSSES at a York tourist attraction have revived their attempts to give nuisance pigeons the bird.

The creatures have become the scourge of York Art Gallery after blighting the building and neighbouring Exhibition Square with the mess they leave behind – as well as forcing customers at its outdoor café to nervously watch the skies.

And the birds have also caused York Museums Trust (YMT), which owns the gallery, an extra headache – as acid from their droppings has corroded telephone wires and cut its communications twice in as many months.

Now the trust is once again applying for permission to put up nets, which will prevent pigeons nesting on the building and being an airborne nuisance to visitors, as well as to carry out a clean-up of the gallery.

Last December, The Press reported how the pigeons had been given a reprieve after YMT grounded its plans to spend almost £9,000 of public money on cleaning bird droppings and putting up nets following concerns from environmental officials.

The cost of the measures now being proposed has not been confirmed, but a YMT spokeswoman said: “We have been experiencing problems with pigeons in Exhibition Square and in particular the Art Gallery building for some time now.

“Not only do the pigeons create a mess, they are also damaging a Grade II-listed building and have caused the telephone lines to go down twice in the last two months.

“Therefore, we have applied for planning permission, firstly to get the building cleaned using a mild abrasive, such as olivine, at a low pressure by a skilled operative, and then to have the building netted.

“We have been considering various forms of netting and have chosen some which is sympathetic to the building and stone, and is also not harmful to the pigeons. An example of this type of netting can be seen at the law courts on the Eye of York. It is not intrusive to the architecture and cannot be seen unless you are very close to the building.

“Exhibition Square is a vibrant and enjoyable place to sit and relax, and cleaning the art gallery building and protecting it from the pigeons is a necessary procedure for the building, visitors and staff.”

Documents submitted to City of York Council said a cull of the birds or introducing sound distraction measures were “not considered appropriate”.

YMT’s application is expected to go before council planners in July.