Dive-bombing birds of prey attacking residents in Buckinghamshire village

Children in a Buckinghamshire village have been left too frightened to play outside as aggressive birds of prey are attacking residents.

Stokenchurch has seen a rise in red kites that are dive-bombing to steal food and are scratching victims with their sharp claws.

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Ava Edgar-Francis, three, was eating a cupcake at a birthday picnic in Wallington Park when she was scratched on the head.

Her mum Debbie was forced to rush her home to treat the deep cuts but now little Ava has been left too scared to leave her home.

Speaking to the Sun, Debbie said: "It was horrendous, she was so upset. It just swooped in claws first.

"There was some bleeding and she had two huge claw marks on the back of her head."

Debbie added that Ava now checks the sky for birds before she goes outside.

"There really needs to be a cull," she said.

Meanwhile, Brenda Kerr, 70, was attacked as she was looking for wool in her box.

"It was like being hit with a metal bar," she told the Daily Mail. "It pecked me between the fingers and left a claw mark down a finger. The blood was draining down my hand."

Brenda said the trouble was that people feed the red kites.

"You get groups of 15 or 20 in the sky," she said. "They've lost their fear."

The birds' rising population is due to a successful breeding programme in England and Wales over the past 30 years.