Last week the Waitaki District Council posted several photos from the body camera of a staff member who was swooped upon by gulls in Meek St carpark.
Businesses in the area also reported issues with the seagulls swooping staff and customers.
The council said it had called the Department of Conservation (Doc) to "see what can be done," but later said the birds could not be moved.
Doc Coastal Otago operations manager Gabe Davies said it had received reports of red-billed gulls swooping people in the area.
The birds were parents protecting their young, which were on the ground and too old to be put back in the nest.
Doc did not move the birds, as it could break the bond between the fledglings and their parents.
They were also mobile and quite difficult to catch, Mr Davies said.
"Gulls which have just fledged are still reliant on and cared for by their parents, which includes parents trying to protect them from any perceived threats.
"This behaviour is just the gulls showing they need a bit more space."
The behaviour was not unusual and Doc received reports of swooping seagulls each year after chicks had fledged.
He said it was best for people to move out of the area and give the gulls some space.
Mr Davies said the number of seagull nests in Oamaru’s CBD had reduced, and the majority nested on Cape Wanbrow.
This was due to building owners being proactive at the start of the breeding season, as the gulls could not be moved once they were nesting.
"The best thing people can do is check their roof and gutters every two or three days to see if gulls are using the roof and remove any debris that could be used as nesting material."
The Roost owner My Valentie said the gull problem was scaring customers away and people could not sit outside to eat.
It was so bad that people complained and walked away from their business.
She sometimes ran into work to avoid getting swooped by the birds.
One worker had attempted to bring in the outside furniture when she got swooped by gulls guarding a fledgling stuck behind a chair.
A Thames St business owner said the seagulls were "entitled" and "absolutely hideous".
Her business had spikes installed on the roof as a deterrent as it had previously been home to up to 80 nests.
The spikes deterred all but the gulls which made three nests, which appeared at the front of the building, on top of the spikes.
When one of the chicks fledged, its wing caught on the spikes, leaving it suspended.
She called Doc to report the situation and was told someone would call her back.
She received a call back days later — after the fledgling had come loose and plummeted to the pavement.
“What do we do as business owners?
She said the council should do more or “at least clean the footpaths”.
She spent the nesting season avoiding getting pooped on and watching people get dive-bombed.
Mr Davies encouraged people not to feed the gulls, and to clear away plates quickly and make sure bins were secure.
"Foraging is a learned behaviour we don’t want to encourage, and human food is also bad for the birds as they didn’t evolve to eat it."
Mr Davies encouraged people to call the Doc hotline for advice about gulls in problematic places or dead gulls in an unusual locations.
The penalty for disturbing wildlife is up to two years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
