Adnan Shah with the damaged bird cage

A pigeon owner has been left “devastated” after finding two of his beloved birds dead after they had been savaged by foxes.

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Imran Shah, 33, had owned the pigeons different from the urban type of bird for several years, and they lived in a specially designed shed in the back garden at his home in Wellesley Road, Ilford.

After the incident, which took place in the early hours of Tuesday, he was upset further when he contacted Redbridge Council, who told him they were unable to help him with the issue.

"My concern was simply, what if that had been a child?" he said.

"People need to be warned about them in this area," he added.

"They arent scared of anything and Ive seen lots of them get violent. They are intelligent animals and they are cunning. The ones that got into my shed knew how to push the door as its quite hard to get in there even for me," he said.

Mr Shah told the Recorder foxes had been causing problems with going through rubbish bins, leaving their mess in back gardens and pavements and breeding in peoples gardens, for as long as he could remember in his road.

But Redbridge Council has said it cannot provide a trapping or destroying service for the animals.

A spokesman said: "If you find a fox in the garden, it is your responsibility to have it removed. The council cannot remove foxes or any other animal dead or alive from your garden or private property."

However, the council has tips on how to reduce the chances of foxes rummaging through gardens by ensuring bins are kept where foxes cannot get to them and raising fences.

As well as this, elderly and disabled residents should be given a helping hand by neighbours as many unused gardens are used as hiding places.