Village unites in bid to rescue hundreds of fish from contaminated lake

Gaby Leslie

6 June 2012 at 11:19 am

Hundreds of fish have been rescued from a contaminated lake after locals offered their bathtubs and paddling pools in a desperate bid to save them.

Dozens of villagers battled to save the fish after 5,000 of them were found floating dead in Madeley Pool, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

Firefighters united with residents and children armed with nets to recover hundreds of the fish that had survived.

Huge paddling pools, buckets and a baby bath were brought in to temporarily re-house the rescued fish while residents tried to oxygenate the water.

According to the Environment Agency, agricultural silage had polluted the lake which is home to species of fish like roach, perch, carp, bream and tench.

Ralph Parsons, chairman of Madeley Pool Angling Club, which manages the pool, said: "We normally have between 7,000 and 10,000 fish in the pool.

"At least 5,000 of them must have died.

"The whole pool looked like a carpet with fish on the surface struggling to breathe.

"It is a close-knit community and we are a local club so everyone has pulled their finger out to try to do what they can.

"We have tried to take out as many alive fish as we can, but there is only so long they will last in paddling pools.

"They have been dying by the minute but we can't take them anywhere in case they contaminate other fish."

Resident Jacqui Caisley, 25, was among those who helped out at the pool.

She said: "A neighbour knocked on our door around 8.30am saying there was a lot of dead fish and the others were gasping for air.

"Loads of us went out to try to catch the ones which were still alive.

"Even little kids were out with their fishing nets.

"We put them into boxes, containers and even paddling pools to try to keep them alive, but they'll be lucky if they survive. It's awful."

Parish councillor Ann Spilsbury said: "This is catastrophic. It is a well-stocked pool and a lot of cost, time and effort goes into looking after it.

"The angling club will be heartbroken to lose so many fish.

"It isn't the first time something like this has happened. We have had waste tipped further up the supply chain and it has come into the pool."

The pool has now been closed to fishing and upcoming angling matches have been cancelled.

Tom Thornett, from the Environment Agency responded to the incident, saying: "An investigation will now look at whether anyone was culpable or whether there was any reckless behaviour involved."