Telecom giant O2 has been forced to apologise to a Norfolk MP for giving him false information that he then shared in prime minister's questions.

At the House of Commons on Wednesday (July 12), Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk, said that a village in his constituency was suffering from poor mobile phone coverage due to nesting gulls. 

He told deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden that Horning was "totally cut off from having a mobile signal" until August because of gulls taking up residency in a new telecoms mast.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: A seagull eats a chip in Great Yarmouth. A seagull eats a chip in Great Yarmouth. (Image: Ella Wilkinson)

Mr Baker told this newspaper he learned about poor mobile coverage in Horning last week and that on Tuesday (July 11), O2 told his office that it was down to a nesting gull. 

However, it turns out the gulls are not nesting on the mast in Horning - but at a mast in Norwich. 

An O2 spokesperson said: “We apologise to residents in the Norwich area who may be experiencing intermittent issues with their mobile phone service.

"This has been caused by wild seagulls taking up a nest in one of our sites, and under UK law we are unable to disturb or move the birds.

"As we’re currently unable to complete work on this mast due to the nesting seagulls, we are looking at other measures we can take to boost services in the area.”

Gulls are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, meaning engineers cannot touch the nest, finish off wiring or turn on the new transmitter until the chicks leave. 

READ MORE: The Norfolk village where a family literally stepped back in time

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Horning is a village in the Norfolk Broads. Horning is a village in the Norfolk Broads. (Image: Archant)

At the House of Commons, Mr Baker asked Mr Dowden for help and called on Natural England to be “sensible” and ensure for “public safety reasons we can get a mobile phone mast working in a prime holiday location”.

Mr Dowden said: “We all love the diversity of wildlife in this country and particularly on the north Norfolk coast that he represents.

“But I think he makes a very strong point about the balance between that and ensuring people have access to modern communication facilities. And I shall certainly take it up with Natural England.”