Residents in one of Britain's most popular coastal towns have warned wealthy Londoners eyeing up a move of the daily 4am wake-up calls - from SEAGULLS.
Lynn Barrett-Smith filmed the pesky birds directly outside her bedroom window in Folkestone, Kent, and said it's become an almost daily nuisance.
The town was recently named one of the best places to live in the UK by The Sunday Times and has become a magnet for people fleeing the capital to live by the seaside.
But Lynn said she published her video as a warning to those wishing to relocate.
The clip shows three raucous seagulls relentlessly shrieking outside one of the bedroom windows – and says 4am wake-up calls are a “regular occurrence”.
Mrs Barrett-Smith said she is able to “tune the noise out after living here all my life” but says people visiting her don’t find it as easy to ignore.
She added: “I had friends stay over one weekend… they said never again!.
“They came to visit from Wales and said they had no idea how we put up with the noise on a daily basis. They could not sleep.
“I have lived in this house for 25 years so I don’t even notice it anymore.”
Interest in Folkestone has been growing substantially following the launch of the multi-million-pound Shoreline Crescent development on the seafront.
Sir Roger De Hann, who heads the company behind the luxury apartments, insists he is not trying to "gentrify" the town – but admits the new seafront flats are likely being eyed up by wealthy Londoners.
It has even been claimed that Folkestone will usurp Brighton as the UK’s new house-hunting hotspot, due to its speedy rail links and more affordable property prices.
However, Mrs Barrett-Smith, a life-long resident of the town, warns people moving there will have to put up with the noise as “the birds have just as much of a right to be here as us.”
“It is much worse in the summer as we have our windows open due to the heat,” she added.
“They start at around 4am and don’t stop squawking until around 10am. My husband works night shifts so he very often gets frustrated by the seagulls.
“I am no stranger to hearing a bit of bad language from the bedroom and seeing the window slam shut.
“I find it quite amusing, but as he starts to nod off at 4am they start the noisy protest."
Much to her husband’s despair, one morning Mrs Barrett-Smith made the “error” of feeding toast crumbs to the birds out of her bedroom window.
“For the next three summers we had seagulls pecking loudly on our windows hoping for more food! it was horrible,” she added.
Mrs Barrett-Smith posted a video of the boisterous birds in the Folkestone Residents Group on Facebook, sparking a lot of reaction – including from former Londoners who have made the town their home.
One of those Avyona Cripps, said: “We're often listening to them at 2am! It's never-ending.
“We chose to live here though, so fully accept the squawking and pattering on the roof at all times. We were used to constant sirens in London and now we're used to the gulls.
