Mottingham station pooing pigeons ruin vendor's trade as customers bombed

Owner of Shell’s Kiosk Michelle Hill says the mess from pigeons nesting above her stall at Mottingham Rail Station is costing her money as well as posing a health and safety risk.

Miss Hill says the droppings were cleared after News Shopper reported in May how commuters were running to toilets to wash their hair and expensive suits but the problem is now “worse than ever”.

The 43-year-old said: “They are getting more and more daring.

“As I am serving customers, they are pooing on them.

“It’s dropped into coffee.

“These customers are looking up worrying that one is going to land on them.

“They can’t relax.

“One poor woman was standing there and they sh** on her head.

“Probably everybody has been crapped on.”

The mother-of-two, who lives in Sidcup, says there is constant mess and noise from the birds overhead between her trading hours of 4.30am to 10am and she has reported the problem but nothing has been done.

The former Mottingham resident says the plucky pigeons have even been flying into her kiosk with two getting stuck in one day.

She said: “They are flying in. They come in, they panic and I run out.

“It is infested up the top.

“I am the one that goes out there and cleans it. I have got it on my boots. It is getting to be a joke.

“It is costing me money. I am losing customers.

“I have got to have something done about it.”

She went on to say there used to be netting above the platforms to prevent birds roosting there but it was removed during a roof refurbishment.

A spokesman for Southeastern, who is responsible for cleaning the platforms, said: “The tenant has been in contact with us – we understand their frustration with the birds.

“We’re looking at a range of options to address the issue.”