Gull impaled in city centre rooftop agony

A herring gull found itself trapped after impaling its right wing on a steel spire in full view of Dundee shoppers.

The stricken bird could be seen hanging helplessly high above HMV in the city centre for many hours on Monday.

Office staff at a building nearby immediately alerted the Scottish SPCA to its plight at around 9.30am.

“At first we thought it was dead,” said one worker.

“But then we could see its head move and knew it was still alive. It’s quite distressing and horrendous to see.

“We noticed it there this morning but who knows how long it has been stuck. We left here on Friday so it could be anytime from then.”

Around an hour later an ambulance crew from the animal protection group arrived at the scene but left after realising they could not reach the bird.

Dundee City Council’s pest control officers were subsequently called out and managed to remove the gull.

However, the rescue effort ended on a sad note when officers found the gull had sustained severe injuries and took the decision to put it down.