It was good to see Peter Thomas putting the seagull and rubbish problems into perspective (The Argus, July 6). It made a pleasant change from the constant calls for a cull from Trevor Pateman (Letters, June 21).

We must remember, Brighton and Hove is a coastal city, where you expect to see seagulls.

We have taken a large slab of the coastline for development and left little food for them in the sea. It is hardly surprising gulls moved back into the city to eat the food left "on a plate" for them in the form of rubbish bags.

What I found sad was the use of the pere-saker falcon, which was employed in The Droveway to scare off gulls (The Argus, July 5).

This is a vicious falcon and using it in this way is like forcing a big bully to petrify other birds.

Our herring gulls, the native bird to this area, only swoop over people to protect their young, which is a natural thing to do. The rest of the year, they are harmless. Surely we don't want to rid a seaside city of seagulls?

Many people tell me how they enjoy watching seagulls rearing their young.

If seagulls can adapt and survive after what humans have taken from them, surely we can live alongside them?

-Gloria Wheatcroft, co-ordinator, Inner City Wildlife Concern, Hove