Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has taken aim at bosses of an East Lothian supermarket over a decision to erect netting around the building in an effort to prevent protected bird species from nesting.
The television naturalist waded in after residents in North Berwick called for a boycott of the town’s Tesco superstore amid concerns the measures could prohibit house martins landing on the building.
A petition against the measure - which the supermarket says is to protect customers from pigeons defecating on public areas - has been signed more than 1,500 times.
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Packham, who presents the BBC television series Springwatch, called on Tesco to ‘do the right thing’ and remove the netting in favour of “cameras and screens”.
The supermarket giant previously backtracked on similar measures put in place at an outlet in Norwich over fears the birds could become trapped.
Posting on Twitter, he wrote: "Hello Tesco, we’ve been here before haven’t we?
"Please fast track the solution which was to take down the nets, put up cameras and screens in the store and show your customers that you care about birds in the biodiversity crisis we sadly find ourselves in."
It comes after house martins were among 70 species to be added to the UK’s red list for endangered birds in December 2021.
More than a quarter of Britain’s 245 bird species now appears on the "highest conservation concern” watch list, according to a coalition of government wildlife bodies.
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A Tesco spokesperson said the store had worked with specialists and governing bodies on the design for the netting.
They added: "The netting is in place as a safety and hygiene measure to prevent pigeons from accessing the roof space and dropping faeces onto the customer area below.
"We continue to monitor the measure with our teams.”
