‘HIGHLY infectious’ guano is to be removed from pigeon lofts - or sheds- on a Skipton allotment plot at a cost of around £1,000.

Town councillors considered three quotes ranging from £990 to £3,800 to remove the now toxic guano -pigeon ‘muck’ - which had been left by a former plot holder at the town council’s Broughton Road allotment site.

Councillors at a meeting last week were told there was a very large amount of guano left in three large lofts.

The meeting heard that when dry, the guano was toxic and needed specialist removal before the plot could be re-let as a garden allotment.

A report to the public services committee stated that the plot was one of three where the tenant had a large number of pigeons and pigeon sheds.

It said: “After the tenant left the plots, and the pigeons were removed, this is the last remaining plot. The other two have been re-let. The plot has large sheds that have a large amount of pigeon guano, the plot needs to be cleared in the appropriate way due to the health hazard.

“Once it is cleared it can be let out as an allotment garden again.”

One of the companies approached for a quote said cleaning up the sheds would take two days by a specialist team in full personal protection equipment.

Following a visit to the site, they described a ‘serious amount of pigeon guano’, pointed out it was highly infectious harbouring ‘bacteria and pathogens’ with the potential of ‘affecting the health of any person carrying out the work’ and highly recommended that ‘no council staff attempted to remove it’.

The survey report said the guano would be first ‘sanitised’ before then being put into general waste bags and put into a skip. Once empty, with all cobwebs removed, the sheds would be sanitised again before they would be ‘safe to enter’.

Councillors, who agreed none of them were ‘chicken poo experts’ after accepting it needed specialist removal agreed it had to be done, and to go for the lowest quote.