The RSPB has challenged the Government to do more to protect Kent's seabirds. In a report published today the charity says that Kent has two of the 71 sites in the UK which provide essential offshore feeding sites for seabirds.

These are Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay and the area stretching from Dover to Kingsdown. But the RSPB say more Government action is needed to increase protection for Kent’s coastal wildlife.

Paul Outhwaite, of RSPB South East, said: “Seabirds provide one of Kent’s greatest wildlife spectacles. The presence of thousands of black-headed gulls, kittiwakes and hundreds of cormorants around our coast is testament to the richness of the region’s seas. Although these birds are protected on land at sea they have little protection.

“Urgent Government action is needed to give them, and the seas they depend upon, the protection they need.”

The RSPB wants new legislation to provide protection of these seabird havens.

For more information on the RSPB's report on Safeguarding our Seabirds: Marine Protected Areas for the UK’s Seabirds visit www.rspb.org.uk