A SALTCOATS pensioner is angry that schoolkids apparently toss away their takeway remains, causing mess and attracting curry sauce-loving seagulls.

John Warnock says he is fed up with pupils at St Matthew’s Academy littering the area by discarding their half-eaten lunches.

The 75-year-old said: “What they don’t eat they throw up in the air and then you get visits from the seagulls.

“The seagulls eat the curry sauce and then they leave mess everywhere. You wonder what they’ll do in the holidays when the kids are off because they sit and wait to get fed!

“Stuff is dumped all over the place. I get this every day, it’s unbelievable. What can you do?

“The footpath behind our house is stained brown with curry sauce and it doesn’t come off because of the dye that’s in it. Everybody thought it was dog dirt at first. It’s everywhere.”

John claimed that when he told kids off for apparently throwing their chips away, they were rude to him.

He said: “One of them was trying to be cheeky when I told him to pick it up. I just grit my teeth and he backed off.

“He nearly had a heart attack when I saw him and his mum in Asda. I shouldn’t have held back, I should have gone over and told his mum and embarrassed him.

“If someone could take their parents round the place and show them and say ‘this is what your kids are doing’, they’d be furious.

“It wouldn’t bother me if I had two good legs but after four hip replacements, there’s not a lot I can do about it”

John suggested St Matthew’s enforce a similar scheme to the one currently being trialled at Auchenharvie Academy which was featured in last week’s Herald.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “Lunchtime litter issues around schools is high on our list of priorities and our Environmental Enforcement Team are working hard to find sustainable solutions to reduce this ongoing problem.

“Our Ob-Litter-Ate programme is piloting at Auchenharvie Academy and kicked off three weeks ago. On one level the project is about enforcement and dealing with offenders but more importantly it is about educating and working with the pupils to create a new culture that will remain with them and the school for years to come.

“While it is early days, the programme is already producing results. The pupils are really embracing it – they are taking selfies of themselves putting rubbish in bins and working with our Enforcement team – and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback already.

“Once the pilot programme is complete we will look to roll it out elsewhere and, of course, St Matthew’s will be considered.”