People have been asked not to feed the pigeons in Norwich Market because of the damage they do to traders' stock.
Stall-holders are becoming increasingly concerned by pigeons in the market who are damaging their stock through their fouling.
Nicky Blake, of Nicky's Vintage Stalls, said: 'A lot of our items need to be specially cleaned because they are vintage – it's an extra expense we could do without.'
Heather Lovering, of Lovering and Co, said: 'We had two jackets from the 1940s which were damaged by the pigeon poo.'
She added: 'We don't just want people to stop feeding the pigeons, we want the birds gone.'
Ms Lovering explained that traders have put up extra signs telling people not to feed the pigeons, but they are being ignored.
'Earlier we had someone empty a bag of grain outside our stall to feed the pigeons. We swept it up and gave it back to them.'
Connor Rumball, who works on Anderson's stall selling outdoor clothes, said: 'What a lot of people do is when they have their food they just put all the leftovers on the floor.'
Mr Rumball said that in a week around 12 items need to be cleaned or thrown out because of fouling by pigeons or gulls.
'People need to stop feeding the pigeons,' he added.
One trader who did not want to be named said the problem was worse than ever, adding: 'Children run into the pigeons and they fly everywhere and sometimes get stuck in the roof of our stall.'
A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: 'The most important aspect in reducing the number of pigeons in any area is to control their food supply.
'Pigeons can breed for most of the year because they have year-round access to food.
'With this in mind, we would ask people not to feed pigeons in the city centre and also to make sure they put food waste and litter in the bins provided – not only out of respect to the environment but also to help address this element as a contributing factor.
'Any mess created by pigeons is currently dealt with under our wider street cleaning programme but there is no budget allocated specifically to the cause. We do, however, carry out programmed cleaning of the benches on Gentleman's Walk during the summer months through our joint venture partner, Norwich Norse Environmental.'
Have you noticed the pigeons getting worse in the market? Email george.ryan@archant.co.uk
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