BACKCHAT’S great pigeon cull survey made it into high-flying circles on Friday – when I handed it into the offices of Wycombe District Council.

Readers inundated me with coupons after I did a special old-fashioned poll in this column last month asking whether the public agrees or disagrees with the council’s decision to kill pigeons in High Wycombe town centre.

A total of 47 coupons were posted back to me – with 41 opposing the cull and six agreeing with it. One reader suggested culling me was the best option, which may of course end up as a recommendation in a council report after this.

It’s the highest response I’ve ever had to anything in the years of doing this column.

And it’s especially impressive when you consider all 47 people used Royal Mail post as opposed to email.

I still put more stock in old-fashioned stamped mail. Of course, if we go back far enough in history, the most effective form of post used to be carried by… pigeons.

Indeed, 32 pigeons were awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, the animal version of the Victoria Cross, for their ‘life-saving bravery’ during the war after rescuing downed RAF servicemen with their messages.

Seeing as High Wycombe is an RAF town, I would have thought councillors would object to killing the descendants of these heroic birds on principle.

But, hey-ho, they know best as usual.

In fairness to the council, they did graciously accept my pigeon survey booklet, even though it had a silly picture on the front. I handed it to Andrew Collinson, divisional environmental health officer, on Friday and explained the context to him. So many thanks to Mr Collinson and officers for not giving me the bird here.

But will elected councillors take any notice of my findings? I suspect there’s more chance of an elephant flying over the town hall than that happening.

And if said elephant does appear, they’ll only want to cull it on grounds of health and safety.