A disabled Plumstead pensioner had been told he can no longer feed the birds in his local park because of all the bird droppings it creates.

John Morris has Parkinson’s Disease and told News Shopper he likes to feed the birds in Plumstead Common because it reminds him of his childhood.

The pensioner has lived in Plumstead for 70 years and said he has fond memories of feeding the birds in the park.

He said: “I spend a lot of time now thinking of happy times as a child playing in Shrewsbury Park and feeding birds on Plumstead Common.

“For some reason the council want to me to stop feeding birds on the common and a notice at the entrance to the park.

“It has taken me 16 emails between the council and myself to get some movement on feeding birds but there has been no change to the notice at the park.”

A Greenwich Council spokesperson told News Shopper the reason behind the ban was due to complaints from gas workers saying the bird droppings interfered with their work.

The spokesperson said: “We did recently put up temporary signs at nearby Plumstead Common regarding bird feeding as we had a number of incidents in which residents were distributing large carrier bags of bread.

“Gas contractors working on the common were concerned about the large amount of bird droppings. The food debris can also attract rats, which needs to be deterred.

“The Council’s ongoing work to support the wild bird life across Royal Greenwich has included the planting over the winter of hundreds of new trees in parks, estate land and by roads.”