Simon Cowell is buying customised crash helmets for his dogs.

The 55-year-old music mogul is fearful for the lives of his beloved Yorkshire Terriers, Squiddly and Diddly, when they are around seagulls, and is taking steps to keep them safe after another dog was pecked to death in Newquay, Cornwall, South West England, two weeks ago, as well as a tortoise in nearby Liskeard days later.

Simon said: ''Seagulls are actually attacking animals. They are coming inland at the moment. I am getting a crash helmet designed for my dogs.''

The 'X Factor' judge has made no secret of his love of animals, and even went on to ask an auditionee on the talent show whether she worried about her cat becoming the next victim.

According to The Sun newspaper, Simon asked: ''Have you thought about seagulls attacking your cats?''

It was recently claimed Simon - who has 17-month-old son Eric with girlfriend Lauren Silverman - is so scared of losing Squiddly and Diddly that he's ''determined'' to clone them, and is looking into ways of doing it.

A source said: ''Money is not an issue. Simon is determined to make it happen.

''Clearly, Simon wants to make sure that any cloning procedure is above board and safe for the dog. That's very much his priority.''

To this end, Simon has called on his aides to approach South Korean cloning company Sooam Biotech.

The source said: ''He has briefed aides and they are looking to see whether Sooam is a viable option.''