Geese invade Staffordshire school
Games are being stopped at a South Staffordshire school because geese are on the pitch.
Up to 150 birds have decided to make Perton First School their home.
While they have become a curiosity for many people in the village, teachers say they are fed up with the mess and damage they cause.
The Canada geese have moved away from their original spot at neighbouring Upper Lake and settled on the school grounds.
An estimated 200 to 400 eggs are laid on the island in the middle of the lake during spring, all of which have to be cleared up by the council.
The authority has already spent £140,000 on improvements, to Upper Lake to prevent the area being damaged by flocks of geese.
Staff at Perton First School have called an urgent meeting in an attempt to get rid of the birds, which have plagued Perton and school fields for the last three years.
The meeting, at the Manston Drive school on February 23 at 4pm, will be attended by a representative of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Howard Medlicott, South Staffordshire Council's landscape manager.
Headteacher Ann Smith said: "We noticed it was getting worse last summer when the weather was really nice. We let the children out to play in the open space, which they loved, but up to 150 geese stopped that from happening.
"We expected it to die down in September but they started to move closer and closer towards the children. Some of the geese are twice the size of them.
"There is mess on the field and on the path where parents bring their children into school. It's embarrassing and a health and safety issue. I have seen people throwing bread into a playground over a 6ft-high hedge, which doesn't help."
School secretary, Debbie Robbins, added: "Over the last three years they have become an increasing hazardous problem. Our football coach had to be persuaded to stay here.
"She wanted to leave as the field is plagued by the mess and matches are getting cancelled. It's not nice for the children either. We have even stopped inviting other schools to play here."
Members of Perton Parish Council this week even likened the geese to rats.
Jamie Angus, spokesman for South Staffordshire Council, said: "Officers will be at the meeting to look at working with the schools and parents to find a long-term solution.
