Invasive weed threatening future of beauty spot's lake

The angling lake at Peatmoor has been covered in Canadian pondweed

An invasive Canadian pondweed is choking a fishing lake and forcing an angling club to cancel all of its matches.

Peatmoor Angling Club members have been working around the clock to clear the water, but leaders says it feels like they are fighting a losing battle.

They have urged the public to donate towards their fundraiser to buy £5,000 worth of specialist equipment to clear the lake, and have already collected about £3,300 towards their target.

Ted Rowe, club committee member at the West Swindon site, said: "I believe if the angling club doesn't survive this will become like another lake in Swindon, where it'll just become derelict and won't survive."

The cause of the weed, also known as Elodea canadensis, is unknown.

Mr Rowe, who has been fishing at Peatmoor for eight years, said the weed risked killing any fish and wildlife living in the water.

He said: "It causes oxygen crashes and at one point we had the lads out on oxygenators around the clock, just keeping oxygen levels up where certain points of the lake it was so down, it was so dangerous for the fish.

"In some ways, it's like fighting a losing battle.

"We spent two, three days on there and now when we go in certain areas it looks like we haven't touched it."

Shaun Enevoldsen (left) and Ted Rowe (right) have been fishing at the lake for around eight years

Club leaders said this was the first time in the organisation's 35-year history that the weed had been a problem.

Angler Sean Enevoldsen said there are usually a lot of geese at Peatmoor lake.

"Tonnes of them, and you can't even see a duck at the moment, there's nothing here," he said.