A SOUTH Lakeland woman is asking fisherman to be more thoughtful about how they dispose of tackle after she witnessed a gull with a hook stuck in its beak suffer a ‘horrible’ death.

Linda Denwood, of Hincaster, was alerted to the struggling bird when out walking her dog along the coast at Sandside.

“I went to see if I could help but the poor bird was in a dreadful state, desperately trying to extract itself from the fishing hook that had become embedded into the bird,” she said.

“I did what I could but its beak was shredded. The bird didn’t last much longer but could have been in this state for a couple of hours or more.

“It was horrible because it was still alive and flapping but obviously dying and there was nothing that could have been done to save it.”

Linda, who often walks along the beach in order to collect plastic, wants fisherman to be aware of just how dangerous the hooks can be.

“I think my message is for fishermen to be extremely careful and realise how savage those things can be to wildlife,” she said. “I want them to be responsible and wary of their actions.”

She said that she was not ‘anti-fishing’ in the slightest and was sure that most fishermen were responsible but believed that Sandside was not the best place to go angling because of the abundance of wildlife in the area.

Linda alerted the RSPB to the incident and because of what she witnessed has now joined the charity.

A spokesperson for the RSPB told the Gazette that birds getting caught on discarded or in-use fishing materials was a ‘huge global issue’.

The spokesperson said: “This is incredibly sad and should act as a reminder to everyone who fishes to dispose of their hooks and other fishing materials responsibly.

“If people find sick or injured wildlife, it’s best for them to contact the RSPCA who are the experts on this and who have the facilities to help.”