Pigeon feeding no longer London style


Rayner will be allowed to sell his feed for 48 hours following the decision

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The license of famed Trafalgar Square's lone pigeon feed dealer was revoked spelling the end of one of London's most popular tourist activities.

City authorities, determined to spruce up the square's centuries-old image and drive away its pigeons, said the dealer who sold pigeon feed to thousands of tourists each day had until Friday to take his wares elsewhere.

A city spokesman said the thousands of pigeons who perch on the limbs of feed-bearing tourists just doesn't fit London style anymore.

"There will still be pigeons here," a Greater London Authority spokeswoman said. "But we want tourists to come to the square not just for the pigeons."

Trafalgar square is a popular starting point for bus tours of London, where tourists often stop for a snapshot of birds perching on their arms, shoulders and sometimes heads.

It is also London's most popular gathering point for celebrations like New Year's eve.

But the city wants to bring musicians and street entertainers into the square as well.

"I am keen to see more people using the square, but this isn't possible with the current high number of birds," Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron said in a statement.

The city will continue to supply the square's estimated 3,000 visiting birds with reduced food for a month in hopes they will eventually fly away for good.

Tourists who want to feed the remaining birds can still do so, but must bring their own food.

"It is not about preventing people from feeding pigeons," the spokeswoman said. "But it won't be acceptable to have tonnes of pigeon feed dropped in the square."

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