Work to tackle pigeons under Shrewsbury railway bridge to be completed next year

Work to tackle the problem of pigeons nesting and fouling under Shrewsbury’s railway bridge will be reviewed by Network Rail, following the need for strengthening work on the bridge, which has recently been identified

Work was recently carried out on the railway bridge to remove pigeon mess and install additional mesh to prevent the birds from roosting.

However, further work to install more mesh has been postponed after a recent inspection of the bridge by Network Rail uncovered the need for remedial strengthening works to be planned for the next financial year.

Neither Network Rail nor Shropshire Council wants to carry out costly mesh work that would then need to be taken down when the work is carried out. It would also prevent us from impacting the public twice with a road closure in a busy part of the city.

Further information regarding the work will be shared soon.

Alex Wagner, deputy Leader of Shropshire Council and councillor for Quarry and Coton Hill (pictured), said:

“We’ve had a huge number of complaints about the pigeon mess on the bridge walls, both on the new paving and the newly resurfaced road, both before and since the first stage of Network Rail’s work was carried out in the summer. I completely share people’s frustrations and we are pushing for action as soon as possible.

“We had hoped the mesh installation work would be completed by now so it’s disappointing that work can’t now be completed until next year. But, I completely accept that it’s important that the strengthening work is carried out, and it makes sense to complete the mesh work at the same time, rather than doing it twice.

“Once complete, this work should finally solve the pigeon problem and remove their mess from the area, tackling an issue which has been present for a number of years – or possibly longer.”