‘They’re here at our invitation’: how gulls took over the UK’s cities

The last thing the chips will ever see. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian

They tear open rubbish bags looking for food, swoop down on passersby and steal their sandwiches, and even swallow rats and squirrels whole.

Many people complain about the menace of urban gulls, but with the wild populations of some species in severe decline, our parks and high streets are increasingly the only places where gulls are thriving.