Pigeons plaguing residents in Jericho, Oxford, have been scared off by a hawk in a clean-up operation costing taxpayers £4,000.

For the past two years, residents living in Whitworth Place have been at their wits' end because the pigeons continually fouled their balconies and clothes on their washing lines.

Now Oxford City Council has paid for a hawk to harass pigeons for 13 weeks.

The Harris Hawk, called Lucy, started patrolling Jericho in August and since then the number of pigeons in the area has significantly decreased.

Richard Stewart, of NBC Bird & Pest Solutions, which keeps 200 birds of prey including hawks and falcons, said the programme was designed to scare off the pigeons — not kill them.

He said: "The hawk flies on appetite, so unless it was starving it would probably not catch the pigeons to kill them.

"When the pigeon sees the predator in the air it tries to keep it in sight.

"Then they get nervous when they can't see the Harris Hawk because they fear they are about to be ambushed so they stay away.

"We put the hawk in the air seven days a week for the first week and then drop the visits down to once or twice a week.

"There used to be about 30 pigeons on the rooftops of the flats and now the number has significantly reduced so the programme is clearly working."

Mr Stewart said the method of dispersing the pigeons — which costs £275 a day — was environmentally-friendly and did not involve culling.

He added: "Pigeon pellets can contain E-coli and salmonella and the droppings can block up the guttering and cause water damage to the building."

John Johnstone, 76, of Whitworth Place, said: "The problem started last summer. There were pigeon droppings all over my balcony and every time I put my washing out it would get ruined.

"There were at least 30 pigeons at a time and it was a bit like that Hitchcock film The Birds — the whole roof was covered."

Fellow resident Margaret Donaldson, 84, added: "It used to be terrible — the pigeons would fly down and spatter the glass on the windows, but recently there has been an improvement."

The pest problem comes after Jericho homeowners last year called on the city council to tackle an explosion in the rat population.

Jericho and Osney city councillor Susanna Pressel arranged for the hiring of the hawk.

She said: "Elderly tenants were getting very depressed about this, so I am very pleased this is working and people can now use their balconies."