A BROTHER and sister say they were too scared to leave their home because of "evil" seagulls.
Penny Freeman, 69, and her brother, Jim Fudge, 67, claim they could not leave their Bridlington home for four days due to two aggressive seagulls guarding their chick.
Mrs Freeman, of Vernon Road, said: "I was held hostage in the house, too afraid to go out for four days.
"It was absolutely terrifying for us. I felt like a prisoner in my own home."
The seagulls' chick had fallen into Mrs Freeman's garden from their nest on her roof. She says they would squawk and behave aggressively whenever she or her brother stepped into the garden.
The 69-year-old said: "I was frightened to death.
"They would peck on the french windows and would come over all defensive if we ever dared to step outside.
"If we wanted to leave the house, we would have to go out the front way.
"Our cats were also too afraid to go out into the back garden."
A couple of weeks ago, Mrs Freeman and her brother noticed one of the gull's chicks had become stuck in some guttering, so tried to rescue it.
The pair took the bird, which had been ignored by the adult seagulls, to the vets, but it died.
They then noticed another chick in the garden.
"This is the chick the seagulls became protective over," Mrs Freeman said.
Mrs Freeman says it is not just she and her brother who have been victims of the angry seagulls.
She said: "The gentleman next door couldn't let his children play out in the back garden because of them.
"He tried to shoo them away with a broom, but they are very evil things.
"It comes to something when even children cannot play in their own garden."
Mrs Freeman is also concerned about the effect the seagulls are having on the town centre.
She said: "Bridlington centre is a real mess with seagull droppings everywhere.
"The RSPB say they are an endangered species and in decline, but the town literally has thousands of them."
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