Vigil to stop Trafalgar Square's pigeons from 'starving to death'

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They will hold a candle vigil in the square at midday after a report by government scientists found that a test sample of five birds sent to their laboratory had died from hunger.

The Mayor's ban on feeding in the square's piazza, which dates from 2002, was boosted in September when Westminster council was granted a bylaw to prohibit feeding on the north terrace, where activists had been dispensing daily emergency rations. A pair of Harris hawks have also been used to deter the birds.

The Pigeon Action Group claims the flock has reduced from 700 to between 200 and 300 since September.

A spokeswoman said: "We are calling on Ken Livingstone to end the cruelty and get rid of the hawks and allow a designated feeding area. It's the only humane solution."

The Greater London Authority said its policy of reducing the square's population of feral pigeons, to improve the environment for visitors, had been done in a humane way.