Bolder gulls get up close and personal

ALL he did was look away briefly from his meal and when he turned back a big chunk of it was missing.

The thief, a huge seagull, was still perched right in front of him on the small seafront table having severed part of the man’s fish and chip lunch with all the skill of a surgeon.

His outraged response swiftly put the seagull to flight but it only dropped to the pavement where it wolfed down the chunk of battered fish it had filched.

The poor man clearly felt he might have said or done something during the incident to upset fellow diners because he apologised profusely, but it didn’t look as if the seagull planned to apologise any time soon.

In fact it lurked nearby for a good while, keenly interested in seconds from such a promising source.

I’ve mentioned the depravations of seagulls before in this column including one incident where people were feeding them right next to signs asking them not to do so.

But this raid was indicative of what is a growing problem where birds are prepared to get up close and personal for the chance of a meal.

In the past fortnight I’ve seen a toddler nearly lose an ice cream to a swooping gull and people trying to eat chips on the Esplanade practically having to defend their meal from a circle of gulls just beyond their reach.

I don’t know what the solution to the problem is except that the bolder the gulls get then the more likely it is that someone is going to get badly hurt.

All of life on sale... all the time

ONLY 139 shopping days until Christmas, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I’ve already seen adverts for Christmas clubs and outings.

This whole relentless crusade to part us from our money has taken some of the gloss off the festive season for me, but it pales into insignificance with the utter destruction in meaning for the word “sale”.

Time was you used to see a sale poster up and it really caught the eye. Now what catches the eye – regardless of the time of year - is a street which doesn’t have a sale sign up.

There are early, mid and end of season sales not to mention spring, summer, autumn and winter sales as if the two definitions are somehow unrelated!

There are “last day” sales which go on for weeks, “closing down” sales for shops which don’t and “special” sales which aren’t.

The only thing I haven’t seen yet is a “sail sale” at a chandlery… and I’m sure that’s only a matter of time.

Beware this man collecting for his own personal charity

THERE really is some serious human scum about on the streets of Weymouth and among the lowest of the low has to be this man.

He took advantage of people’s kind hearts to skim their generosity to line his own pockets.

Two women on the Esplanade were among his victims as he came collecting for a charity which really did turn out to begin at home…. his home.

By the time staff at the café where the women were drinking coffee could get out and warn them it was too late and the man had gone.

Café staff had seen him operate before and noticed that the t-shirt he was wearing to support his chosen “charity” was out of date and apparently had “08” on the back. He ran off as soon as he saw they were suspicious.

Beach patrol staff are keeping an eye out for him, not least because the charity he was using as a front was the hugely deserving Help For Heroes. You’ve been warned.

Not so much fun with the horns

VUVUZELA horns at the World Cup may have been annoying but they are traditional at South African football matches where they were born out of a desire to have harmless fun.

The same cannot be said for the four young men who left a trail of shocked people in the wake of their speeding car in Weymouth from which they triggered an air horn next to unsuspecting pedestrians, cyclists and even fellow drivers.

They did it four times that I saw and were having a hilarious time as they carved their way through the King Street area.

One woman staggered sideways, the cyclist jumped while the driver victim turned his head sharply to his left in an instinctive reaction to see what the blaring noise was.

Any one of these incidents could have had serious consequences, but some people seemed to be trying to get their number.

Hopefully police will soon be getting them to sing a different tune, either through tracing the number or CCTV footage.

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