By Graham Tutthill

It's not quite the des res every gull dreams of...

But two daring herring gulls have set up home slap bang in the
middle of the main Dover to London railway line!

Feathers may fly when the 13.33 to Charing
Cross whizzes past, but at least they live close to commuter
links.

One bird is nesting right in the middle of the London-bound
line, the other has built its nest between the two sets of tracks,
near the old harbour station just off Limekiln Street at Dover.
Both are very close to the live rails.

Video: Herring gulls make
their home on the tracks

Trains pass by, or over them, at least four times an hour.

The gull on the Dover to London line sits tight when a
Dover-bound train passes by, and hops off onto the grass next to
the line when the London-bound trains are just inches away. The
gull between the tracks flies off just as a train approaches in
either direction. Both return soon after the trains have gone.

Network Rail's Gary Gaskarth said:
"We have investigated, and as these gulls are not affecting rail
operations, we are leaving them alone.

"There is no safety issue
here."

But Kirk Alexander from the White Cliffs Countryside Project
said nesting birds were protected by law.