Action has been taken after swifts were blocked from their nests by building works.

At the weekend, the red-listed species could be seen circling above a building in Albert Road, Ramsgate, covered in scaffolding.

However, the framework has now been changed, meaning the birds can get to their nests, following an intervention by the RSPB charity, which worked with company Technical Scaffolding Ltd to resolve the issue.

Local environmentalist Nik Mitchell alerted the charity when he spotted the birds and captured footage of them “screaming” overhead.

He explains in the video: “Swifts are flying over, screaming past, and they're unable to get in.

“These swifts cannot get into their nest holes.”

He described the situation as an “absolute outrage” and said the scaffolding had been put up around the “loyal swift nest site” over the past week.

According to the RSPB, swifts like to live in houses and churches, nesting inside roofs.

But as more old buildings are renovated, their nests are disappearing. In 2021, swifts were added to the red list in the UK Conservation Status Report. Red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action.

Heather Richards, senior conservation officer for the RSPB in Kent and Essex thanked Technical Scaffolding for meeting her on-site yesterday morning and said they worked together to reach a quick conclusion.

Jason Cooper, managing director of Technical Scaffolding said the team were not aware of the nests, and there were no signs to indicate their presence.

He explained the team had been abroad from Friday, but as soon as they landed at 5am yesterday, they went straight to the site.

He said: "It was just a misunderstanding and we didn't know the birds were nesting there. Even the RSPB agreed that it wasn't something we would have known about.

"You could see it wasn't done on purpose. If you saw a nesting sign on there, you'd go, ‘we need to look into this before we put this up’.

"It needs to be highlighted more about the protection of birds so everybody knows.

"We're going to now promote it with RSPB and we will help to install bird boxes on that building."

The RSPB said in a statement: “The charity is keen to remind the public that swifts need access to fly in and out of their nesting sites in the summer and to urge local councils to give out advice on where swifts nest annually.

“The issue was initially reported by local environmentalist Nik Mitchell who was instrumental in ensuring action to try and save the birds, although it is not known if the young have survived.

“In the UK, swifts rely on buildings for nest sites, and lots of work has been done over the past decade to fit increasing numbers of nest boxes to buildings to help reverse their fortunes. This includes a campaign urging the UK government to mandate the use of swift nesting bricks and boxes in all new housing developments.”

Mr Mitchell said: “Although it may be too late, at least lessons have been learned and hopefully this raises awareness of threats to a red-listed special species of bird in severe decline.

“This is the most important swift colony in Ramsgate, and in recent years I've been doing all I can to help them.”