Subject to the provisions of this section, a local authority shall have power to take any steps for the purpose of abating or mitigating any nuisance, annoyance or damage caused by the congregation in any built-up area of house doves or pigeons or of starlings or sparrows.

Nothing in section twenty-three of the M1Larceny Act 1861 or in any other provision in that Act, shall prevent a local authority, in exercise of their powers under this section, from taking any reasonable steps to seize or destroy, or sell or otherwise dispose of, any house doves or pigeons which in their belief have no owner.

A local authority acting under this section shall take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the seizure and destruction of any birds are carried out humanely.

It is hereby declared that this section does not authorise a local authority to do anything in contravention of F1Part I of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.