Northwest Environmental proofs buildings across Wigan against pigeons and gulls, from canal-side mills and town-centre shops to business park units and homes in Standish. We first survey which birds use the building and whether a nest is active, then fit netting, spikes, wire or panel mesh lawfully, often in one visit. Phone or use our enquiry form to book.
What draws pigeons and gulls to Wigan’s buildings?
Wigan’s mill and canal history shows in its buildings. Cotton factories took hold in the town during the nineteenth century, and the waterside buildings at Wigan Pier include Gibson’s Warehouse, first put up in 1777, and the Terminus Warehouses, which date from the eighteenth century and were restored in the 1980s. Old industrial buildings of this type usually offer what feral pigeons seek out: deep window reveals, ledges under the eaves, gaps in old roofs and sheltered voids where a pair can nest undisturbed. Pigeons breed through much of the year, so a building that suits them can hold birds in every season.
Gulls come at the problem from a different angle. They want wide, flat roofs where foxes and people cannot get at them, with food close by. Wide flat roofs are most common on industrial and warehouse units, which is why units on business parks, Westwood Park among them, get a roof check as a matter of course. In the town centre, the two shopping centres and the indoor market bring food, bins and shoppers together, and any venue the size of the town’s football and rugby league stadium generates the kind of food waste both species scavenge.
The borough also holds a great deal of wild birdlife. The Wigan Flashes now sit within a National Nature Reserve and Pennington Flash’s bird list runs past 230 species. All wild birds, feral pigeons and gulls included, are protected by law, and harming them or their active nests is allowed only under licence. Proofing keeps birds off particular buildings; it is not about removing birds from the landscape.
What do we find on Wigan’s mills, shops and business park roofs?
In the town centre, a typical job is pigeons roosting on the ledges and parapets of older commercial buildings, with fouling below on doorways, shop signs and pavements. Wigan town alone holds 125 listed buildings, so these jobs start with the question of what can be fixed where. Low post-and-wire and colour-matched netting are our usual starting points on heritage fronts.
Converted mills such as Trencherfield, which became apartments in 2009, tend to combine residents’ window ledges with long rooflines and plant enclosures. Pigeons nesting on a balcony or in a plant area bring droppings, feathers and mites close to people’s homes, and the work has to be agreed with whoever manages the building.
On business parks, the pattern is gulls nesting on flat roofs in spring and pigeons roosting under canopies and in loading bays all year. Box gutters blocked with nest material overflow in heavy rain, and fouling in a goods-in area becomes a food safety question for any business handling food. Out in the suburbs and villages, the calls are more often about pigeons under rooftop solar panels and jackdaws filling chimneys.
How does a proofing job run in Wigan?
Surveys in Wigan, a short run up from our Warrington base, are booked for a set day, and the same team handles a terraced house in Hindley and a warehouse roof on a business park. Work starts with someone on site, not a judgement from a photo. The technician confirms which birds are involved, whether they are perching, roosting or breeding on each part of the building, and whether a nest is occupied, since an active nest decides when that area can be closed off. Access is planned at the same visit: a ladder or tower for a house, a mobile elevating work platform for a business park roof, and the canal operator’s permission where a building can only be reached from the towpath. For listed or conservation-area buildings, we flag whether consent is likely to be needed from the local planning authority before anything is fixed.
A written proposal with photos follows; for commercial sites it comes with the RAMS paperwork a facilities team or landlord will want to approve. Gull work is timed for autumn and winter wherever possible, so roofs are finished before birds return to nest in spring. On the day, droppings and stale nesting are dampened, bagged and the surfaces disinfected, and we make sure no bird is shut in before any netting, spikes, wire or mesh is fixed in place. Afterwards you are left with a note of each system installed and its location, including any access hatches in netting.
How do you keep Wigan buildings bird-free afterwards?
Proofing removes the places to land and nest, but food keeps birds close. Keep bin stores shut and lids down, clear food waste from yards and service areas promptly, and discourage staff, residents and visitors from feeding pigeons or gulls, including along the canal. Clear gutters each autumn, have netting and wires checked after storms, and report damage early, since a single split in a net can let a pigeon through and leave it stranded inside. On many sites the same bins that feed gulls also feed rats, so bird work often runs alongside our rodent control.
Bird Control & Proofing in Wigan: what we see locally
- Wigan grew as a mill town and its waterside warehouses at Wigan Pier date back to the eighteenth century; older mills and warehouses typically give feral pigeons deep ledges, sills and roof voids to roost and nest in.
- With 125 of the borough's 216 listed buildings in Wigan town itself, proofing on older frontages often has to be planned around listed building consent and fixings into mortar rather than stone.
- Westwood Park, the business park on the former power station site, is the sort of site where the roof gets as much attention on a survey as the yard, because broad flat roofs that foxes and passers-by cannot reach are what gulls pick for nesting.
- Wigan Council's pest service is limited to its own tenants and its booking page does not name birds, so bird work on private homes and business premises is arranged privately.
How we deal with it
- 1
Site survey
We identify the species, what the birds are doing in each area, where any active nests are, what the fixings would go into and how the work can be reached safely.
- 2
Written specification
You receive photographs and a plan for each area: the system, mesh size, access method and timing, plus a risk assessment and method statement for business premises.
- 3
Timing around nests
Any area with an active nest waits until the young have left; the rest can go ahead. For gulls we aim to finish the roof before the next breeding season starts.
- 4
Clearance and installation
Empty nests and fouling are damped down, bagged and the surface disinfected. We check no birds are inside, then fit the netting, spikes, wire, gel or panel mesh.
- 5
Handover and upkeep
You get a record of what was fitted and where, including the access points in any netting, and we can return to inspect fixings periodically and after storms.
Bird Control & Proofing in Wigan: frequently asked questions
Will Wigan Council help with pigeons or gulls on my building?
Its pest service is open only to people who live in Wigan Council houses, and the booking page mentions insects and vermin, bed bugs, wasps and bees without naming birds; a linked document sets out what the council will not treat, so tenants should look there first. The service no longer extends to owner-occupiers, private renters or landlords, and the page says nothing about businesses, so for any other building bird proofing is a private job. A council tenant with pigeons getting into the loft should report it to the council as landlord too, since roof gaps are a repair matter.
Our shop is in a listed building in Wigan town centre. Can it still be proofed?
Usually, yes. Wigan town has 125 listed buildings, so it is worth checking the status of yours before anything is fixed. Fixing anything to a listed building may need consent under the listed buildings legislation, granted by the local planning authority, and carrying out such work without consent when it is needed can be an offence. We survey first and give you a specification with photographs to support any enquiry or application, then wait for the answer before fitting. Work on a trading frontage is timed around your opening hours, using early starts or closed days to keep the pavement clear below.
Can you proof a converted mill apartment block where a managing agent controls the roof?
Yes, and the managing agent is normally the person we work with. Mill conversions have long parapets, deep window reveals and rooftop plant that pigeons use, and fixing anything to the outside means the freeholder's permission and planned access. We survey from the ground and the roof, send the agent a specification together with the RAMS documents, and schedule the install to suit residents. Individual flat owners can report problems, but the shared fabric is usually the agent's decision.
Pigeons roost under the loading canopy of our unit on a Wigan business park. What would you fit?
Usually netting across the underside of the canopy, fixed to a perimeter wire so it sits taut and leaves no gaps at the edges, with spikes or wire on any beams or signs outside the netted area. Before closing the space we check for active nests and wait if any are in use. We also look at the roof above, because gulls on a flat roof and pigeons under a canopy often turn up together, and one survey can cover both.
Can you remove gulls nesting on our warehouse roof?
Not while the nest is in use, unless Natural England has issued a licence. Herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls are not covered by the general licence for public health and safety, so taking a nest that is being built or holds eggs or chicks needs an individual licence. These are normally granted only where there is evidence of a real risk to people's health or safety, not for noise, mess or damage to a building. Once the young have fledged and the nest is empty, it can be cleared. The lasting answer is to proof the roof over autumn and winter so gulls find nowhere to nest next spring.
When is the best time of year to gull-proof a roof?
Between breeding seasons: broadly from late summer, once chicks have fledged, through to early spring. Gulls pair up and start building on roofs in spring, and from then until the young leave an active nest limits what can be done near it. Booking a survey in autumn leaves time to plan access, agree a method statement with your facilities team or landlord and fit the system before the birds come back. If gulls are already nesting, we can still survey, proof the parts of the roof well away from the nest and return for the rest once it is empty.
Is it legal to get rid of pigeons, and can I shoot them in my garden?
Keeping pigeons off a building with proofing is lawful as long as no bird is harmed or trapped and no active nest is destroyed. Killing feral pigeons or taking their nests needs a licence. Around homes and other buildings the relevant one is usually Natural England's general licence GL41, which the owner or occupier, or someone they authorise, may use only for its listed purposes: preventing slips and falls, the spread of disease to people and safety problems caused by nesting. Pigeons eating bird seed or sitting on a fence do not fit those purposes, and firearms law and safety apply too. In a built-up street, proofing the roof and removing the food source is the realistic route.
More in Wigan
Last updated: