Wokingham angler Dean Fletcher claims new carp record

Dean Fletcher landed the fish after trying to catch it for three years

An angler has claimed a UK record for the heaviest carp after trying to catch it for three years.

Dean Fletcher, 53, from Wokingham, landed the 68lb 1oz carp, known as "the parrot" due to the shape of its mouth, at Cranwells Lake, Wasing.

Mr Fletcher said: "When it went into the net and I saw which fish it was I was leaping all over the bank."

The previous UK carp record of 67lb 8oz was set by Austin Holness, in Kent in 2008.

Mr Fletcher, a greengrocer, said he caught the fish within an hour of fishing at the lake on the evening of Wednesday 13 January.

After being weighed, the carp was then released back into the water.

He said: "I'd been after this fish for three years. It's all I ever talked about - it had become a bit of an obsession."

The recordings from the catch will be now be sent to the Angling Trust for verification.