An ex-mayor has told how he found a dead bird dumped on the doorstep of his home, with a scrawled note saying 'we know who you are'.

District and town councillor Michael Lyons, who served as Hythe’s mayor from 2015-2016, made the discovery at his home in Turnpike Hill, Hythe.

He said: “I was surprised to see it, of course, and my first thought was concern for the individual who left it there because it is quite a disturbed thing to do.

“The note was written in a most uncultured hand.

"It’s clearly from someone who has some kind of grudge but I’m a laid back person, nothing really phases me.”

He added: “I didn’t call the police because I didn’t want to waste police time but I do want whoever left it to know I will be in contact with the police should it happen again.”

The discovery came after Mr Lyons returned home after visiting a constituent on Sunday, October 29 at about 6pm.

Mr Lyons, who sits on Shepway District Council’s (SDC) development control committee, believes the incident could be linked to the protest march held at Hythe seafront the same day, or to young vandals he had spoken to.

"My first thought was concern for the individual who left it there because it is quite a disturbed thing to do" - Michael Lyons

He said: “Nothing like this has ever happened before and it does seem peculiar that it coincided with the march.

“If it was an adult then they must have gone very much out their way to make the threat.

“But not long before I did tell off some children who were vandalising a fence, it could have been them.

“Either way I’m not going to worry about it.”

Some 200 people had marched between two proposed developments sites – Princes Parade and Fisherman’s Beach - to protest at plans to build on green space in Hythe and surrounding areas.

Developments they oppose include 150 homes and a leisure centre on Princes Parade, additional homes on Fisherman’s Beach, the M20 lorry park and the 12,000-home garden town in Otterpool Park.