Public sector
Robop has been used by a diverse range of public sector bodies including city councils, universities, schools and research establishments. Bird deterring can be a very tricky area for city councils and local authorities because of conflicts between members of the public that want the council to get rid of the birds and clean up the mess, many have quite the opposite opinion and indeed may go to extreme lengths to encourage the birds. Council bashing is also a popular sport of the UK media so councils can be damned if they do and damned if the don't address the bird problem. Liverpool City Council has been by far the boldest in deploying Robop having purchased 10 birds as part of their campaign to clean up the city for the European City of Culture event. The photo shows Robop on BBC Television News displayed on a giant TV screen in the city centre. Robop had only a small part to play in the clean-up programme but the enormous interest generated around Robop helped the Council get the message over to the public to stop feeding pigeons. On a much smaller scale Guildford City Council used Robop to keep pigeons off their historic town clock. Leader of the pest control department Mike ... was until his retirement a very enthusiastic advocate of Robop. In another application South Ayrshire Council have used Robop to protect primary school children from gulls who would hide on the school roof and swoop down on children robbing them of their sandwiches!
