PLANS to spend £10,000 to solve the long-running pigeon problem in Trowbridge have been given the go-ahead by the town council's policy and resources committee.

On Tuesday councillors endorsed the plan to put aside money to provide a roosting and feeding area for the birds in an attempt to coax them out of the town centre.

They admitted they do not know if this will work but said the situation had gone on too long and the time had come to act.

Cllr Tom James said: "It is an expensive option but I don't think we have a choice. We are here through a long drawn-out process and we have to go this way."

The row over the birds, blamed for causing thousands of pounds of damage to buildings in the town and costing the council even more in clean-up bills, has been going on for five years. Solutions proposed over the years have included a hawk to scare the birds away, birth control and a controversial cull.

Experts from The Pigeon Control Advisory Service were called in two years ago and visited the town again just before Christmas.

The council is awaiting the results of a report from PICAS on possible sites for the roosting area, perhaps at the town park or Stallards Park.

Cllr James said: "We have taken the advice, we are paying for the advice and they are the experts. From what I am hearing most people agree with this, it is a humane way of dealing with it."