A seagull caused a flap when it flew into a foodstore and was trapped on overhead steel wires.

A member of staff climbed up a ladder to rescue the distressed and screaming bird.

It was freed unharmed from the Asda store in Bouverie Place Shopping Centre, Folkestone, after being stuck for 10 minutes on Wednesday .

The rescuer has been publicly named as Tracey Queen, from Folkestone, who was helped by colleagues Jamie Kipping and Ben Johnson.

Ms Queen is reported to have said: “To hear any living creature screaming like it was in pain and fear is not funny.

“People were very distressed at the sight.

“God and karma say hurt no living creature.

“Maybe if we were not destroying the land and seas, wildlife could live in their own habitat and not have to come inland.”

Seagulls are an everyday sight and sound in Folkestone town centre and many find easier pickings for food there, often because of litter, compared with the sea shore.

Many are also seen as far inland as Ashford town centre Ashford.

Several townspeople in Folkestone see them as a pest because of their droppings, their scavenging for food and the way they sometimes aggressively swooping to snatch scraps from people eating outdoors.

They have also caused nuisance by nesting on chimney tops.

Last year Folkestone’s KAP motor dealers used a hawk to scare off gulls that were fouling their cars. And town resident Stewart Palmer hired out his hawk for others wanting to frighten off gulls.

The RSPCA says the gulls cannot know if their nests cause blockages and it is their instinct to hunt for food to survive, wherever they find it.

The charity says it is best to deter the birds by never feeding them and disposing of rubbish properly.