A BRUISED shopper was left with a bloody mouth after a greedy seagull tore into her lip in a food-crazed bid to seize her tasty breakfast.

Laura Morgan was taking a bite out of a piping hot hash brown, which she had freshly purchased from McDonald’s, in Pier Avenue, Clacton, when the bird seized its moment to strike.

The next thing she knew, Laura, 32, was struck across the head by a swipe of the hungry gull’s wing.

“It must have been large, I thought someone had just assaulted me,” she said.

“I had no idea it was a gull at first, I thought I had been punched.

“If I was a child it would’ve knocked me out.”

The worst was yet to come, as the gull made a dive for the hash brown, sinking its beak into poor Laura’s lip in the process.

Nursery practitioner Laura said the ordeal lasted for only a few seconds, but left her with a bloody mouth - although she managed to cling on to the hash brown.

“I didn’t actually even get to see the bird,” she added.

“It was all over so fast.

“I was in shock, it actually went into my mouth.”

Laura grabs a McDonald’s breakfast every Tuesday, before going to meet her 82-year-old grandmother to help her with the shopping.

She’s spotted gulls stalking her before, but said this is the first time she’s been attacked.

“My nan couldn’t quite believe it when she saw me,” she added.

“I am laughing about it now but what if it had got me in the eye?

“People need to be aware they are about and can do this sort of thing.

“Whenever I’m getting a McDonald’s I can see them following me.”

Nursing her bleeding mouth, Laura’s first port of call was the pharmacist, who advised her to visit her doctor.

She ended up receiving treatment at the minor injuries unit at Clacton Hospital, where she says she caused quite a stir with the doctors.

“It got a lot of interest, the doctors were discussing it amongst themselves,” she said.

“Of course, my friends are all laughing at me.”

The wound was treated with antibiotics and Corsodyl mouthwash.