Pests? No, they're our garden pals

I AM often asked to appear on the gardening show on Radio Manchester with the lovely Simone Riley.

- ALAN WRIGHT

I am a foil to the brilliant gardening expert Shaun Gagie, who knows everything about gardens and lets me interrupt with some wildlife gardening tips.

I can answer questions and chat about making your backyard or window box more nature-friendly, but most people ask me about ‘pests’.

How can I get rid of slugs or rats? How can I stop pigeons and squirrels coming to my bird table? What do I do about magpies?

I am getting a reputation as Defender of the Pests because, to me, these are not pests and all do the job they were born to carry out.

Rats, feral pigeons and gulls are the difference between us and mountains of food waste and more smelly stuff, which I won’t go into. They are pretty amazing creatures, surviving everything we throw at them.