In the week of the 25th anniversary of film director Alfred Hitchcock's death -- which falls tomorrow (April 29) -- one Abingdon school has ensured there will be no repeat of scenes from his movie The Birds.

After a flock of seagulls began patrolling above the playground at Larkmead School, looking for left-overs from pupils' break-time snacks, the school decided to stop them in their tracks.

Pupils were ordered not to drop tit-bits and one of their number came up with the perfect solution to the aerial menace, two imitation eagle owls which the gulls -- thought to come from the landfill site at Sutton Courtenay -- think will attack them, so they give the school a wide berth.

Headteacher Richard Bysouth said: "The birds were attracted by scraps of food. Then children started leaving out bits and pieces and that attracted even more birds.

"The seagulls did not attack anyone, but liked the food scraps left behind and some pupils were blessed with droppings from above.

"Our main concern was the health risk caused by the droppings. It was a mess and could have caused disease if left unchecked, so we decided to take action. Children were told not to leave food and the imitation owls seem to have done the trick."

The idea of the owls came from Tom Crowe, 14, from Abingdon: "I saw an imitation bird on top of a nearby office building and thought it might work for the school.

"There were hundreds of the seagulls at one stage, but all of them have vanished. We hope they don't come back when they realise the owls are fakes."

Jack Rhodes, 14, from Marcham, added: "The birds were not aggressive towards us, but some of them did dive-bomb into the playground to pick up scraps of food. They were leaving a mess but now they've gone. Fingers crossed, they will stay away."

School premises manager Roy Taylor bought the owls from a garden centre and has fixed them high on the roof.

He said: "They're very realistic and have clearly had an affect on the real birds, who appear to have taken fright.

"If they realise they've been duped and come back, then I will consider devising a way to make the owls swing about and scare intruders."

As reported in Saturday's Oxford Mail, two more of the imitation owls have taken up residence at the Didcot Railway Centre to keep pigeons out of sheds where preserved trains are kept.