Stone the crows... schoolgirls’ Hitchcock-style nightmare as birds launch wave of attacks

PARENTS whose children walk to school might issue them some road safety advice or a ‘stranger danger’ reminder.

But pupils at a £22,000a-year private girls’ school have had a more unconventional warning: Remain vigilant in case of attack from a gang of… crows.

In an echo of the Hitchcock movie The Birds, James Allen’s Girls’ School has even advised pupils to avoid a nearby street in the London suburb of Dulwich Village after a homeowner suffered ‘puncture wounds to the head’ and another had to fight off the crows with an umbrella. An email to parents from the school warns: ‘We’ve had a note from a resident about crow attacks.’ It adds: ‘There are two large crows protecting a nest of fledglings and they are attacking anyone who walks along the road. ‘The resident was attacked, resulting in about half a dozen small puncture wounds to the head, another neighbour had to use an umbrella to get out of their house, and other residents have also been attacked.’

The school warned pupils to avoid walking or cycling down East Dulwich Road – where the average house costs more than £1.5million – until the fledglings have left the nest.

The email directs parents to a website with information about crow attacks. Birdfact gives tips on how to avoid being targeted and explains that the birds are ‘about as intelligent as a seven-year-old’ child.

It says they are likely to pounce only during breeding season and advises people to ‘remain calm’ as flapping or chasing the bird can increase the ferocity of its onslaught. The bird attacks come after the Mail last week revealed the owner of an 18th century cottage is being terrorised by a crow – that smashed seven of his windows.

Torvald Alexander, 53, described how the bird – which he has nicknamed Psycho – targeted his home in Biggar, Lanarkshire, over the course of a number of days.

We also told how runners were urged to wear helmets after an aggressive buzzard launched a terrifying aerial attack in Friockheim, Angus. The bird of prey left Ewan Cameron, 46, with six separate wounds after it sank its talons into the back of his head while he was out jogging near the village.