GULL control will be carried out in Dunbar and Musselburgh over the coming weeks.

East Lothian Council has put in for temporary traffic restriction orders (TTRO) for the towns.

The order, which is for May 28 and June 11 in Dunbar, and May 30, June 6 and June 11 in Musselburgh, would allow employees to coat the eggs of the gulls with an oil.

A spokeswoman for the council said that the tactic was used in areas which had “experienced problems in recent years from the sheer number of seagulls”.

She added: “It is an offence to interfere with a nest or its contents and therefore, before taking any action to remove a nest with or without eggs or chicks, or to oil eggs within a nest, permission must be sought from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

“Egg oiling is considered to be an extremely effective method of non-lethal and humane bird control but is not commonly used for the control of urban species such as the feral pigeon.

“Egg oiling is a method of egg treatment that is normally used for the control of ground nesting birds and is considered to be 100 per cent effective if carried out at the correct time of year.”