Cannon Hill Park fish deaths caused by heatwave

Aerators are being used to reduce the number of fish dying due to the high temperatures

A lack of oxygen caused by the heatwave has been blamed for a large number of fish dying in a Birmingham park.

Darren Share, from Birmingham City Council, said his staff had had to remove dead fish numbering in the "early thousands" from Cannon Hill Park.

The pool where the fish died was once a boating lake and is very shallow, Mr Share said.

The council is now using pumps aerate the water to prevent further fish loss.

Smaller varieties

"[The pond in Cannon Hill Park] is not vey well shaded, so unfortunately the water does warm up and the temperature does get quite high, and the oxygen goes out of the pool quite quickly.

"We have had pumps there trying to aerate and help the remaining fish and so far we haven't been having any casualties, which is a positive note," Mr Share explained.

The dead fish are mainly smaller varieties like roach and bream, he added.

Fish have died in other pools across the West Midlands, including Sneyd Pool in Walsall, Burnt Mill Pool in Dudley and Mary Stevens Park in Stourbridge.