Royal Mail workers in Cornwall have been forced to “run for their lives” following a series of attacks from “dive-bombing” angry seagulls.

Residents in Liskeard, Cornwall, have received a letter from the postal service warning them of the aggressive birds that have been “sweeping” towards workers from rooftops in the area, preventing people from receiving their mail.

Homeowners have been told to either wait for the deliveries to arrive when the birds have calmed down or give the Royal Mail a different address to which they can send post.

The postal service has apologised to those impacted by the pesky birds, adding that the seagulls are likely acting out against those they perceive as threats towards their young.

A local, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed that the birds seemed to be targeting selective groups, adding that she had also seen them attack council workers.

Speaking to Cornwall Live, she said: “They don't attack me for some reason, but the posties and any council workers are running for their lives.

“My next-door neighbour who's elderly got swooped and knocked over, but he admits he also throws stuff at them — I always greet them.”

She said was unfazed by the delays as she finds the baby gulls “incredibly cute”.

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Ryan Lean, the Royal Mail customer operations manager for the Liskeard depot, said the following in his letters to residents on June 20: “As you may be aware, we are currently experiencing some difficulties safely delivering to you and your neighbour due to seagulls in the area, swooping at delivering staff in order to protect their young.

“The purpose of this letter is to firstly advise you of the issues we are experiencing but also to assure you that we will continue to attempt deliveries every day.

“If on any day we are unable to deliver to you safely, your mail will be returned to the Liskeard depot where it will be held securely until we can attempt delivery again the following day.”

“I appreciate this is not ideal. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause but whilst Royal Mail is committed to providing a consistent daily delivery to addresses, we do place the highest priority on the safety of our employees.

“Rest assured that we will be monitoring the situation on a daily basis with a view to resuming normal service to you and your neighbour as soon as possible.”

The bothersome birds are no strangers to creating havoc for postal workers.

Back in 2019, residents on a street in Argyll and Bute received no deliveries for weeks due to a series of seagull attacks on post officers.

However, David McArthur, a local, said postal workers managed to protect themselves by “staying in their van and beeping the horn for us to run out and get the post”.

Posties up north are also not safe from the troublesome gulls. In 2017, Royal Mail refused to deliver to a road in Hereford as birds were engaging in swooping attacks on locals.

One postman even said that a gull had flown straight into his head.