The flying fiends have been ruffling feathers among traders and city folk who have called for an end to their persistent peskiness.

Traders have had to deal with "spoilt stock" while others have had food stolen by the pigeons, which flock near the city's war memorial in the hundreds.

Hundreds of pigeons regularly gather near the market (Image: Denise Bradley)

Norwich City Council had considered feeding contraceptives to the birds in order to kerb their numbers, but this was ruled out after it found the method was not licensed to do in the UK.

The council also briefly introduced a hawk, which deterred the birds, but the trial was put on hold after people continued to feed the pigeons.

Another method, which was backed by traders, was to fine people caught feeding them, which the council said it was investigating.

But, after being questioned by the Evening News over what it was planning to do to mitigate the numbers, it seems progress has slowed.

A spokesman for the council responded with "no update", leaving some traders frustrated.

Alfie McComb, who runs Dotties Treats and Sweets at the back of the market where pigeons are known to congregate, said: "I feel like the council gave it a go but now there is no persistence, they've put it on the back burner."

Alfie McComb runs Dotties Treats and Sweets (Image: Newsquest)

Mr McComb added: "There are solutions and alternatives, like making dove huts at Chapelfield or putting in a more permanent deterrent. "

Mick Tee'e, who regularly visits the market, says he remembers when in the late 1960s when a lorry used to drive outside city hall with a net that would be lain on the ground for the pigeons.

He said: "The net had food on it and then it would scoop up the pigeons and drive them to the coast."

© Eastern Daily Press