Goldfish removed from Thomas Hardy pond to protect newts

The goldfish were found in the pond near Thomas Hardy's cottage

More than 100 goldfish found in a pond that features in Thomas Hardy's short story The Withered Arm have been removed to protect newts.

They were discovered in Rushy Pond near Hardy's cottage in Higher Bockhampton which forms part of the Thomas Hardy visitor centre.

Dorset Council said the goldfish, which had bred rapidly, "make a ready meal of newt eggs and young".

The fish were caught and rehomed to better suited ponds.

The council said the fish were removed as they "could quickly decimate our thriving population of palmate newts and our newly discovered great crested newt, as well as many invertebrates living in the water".

It said they were a "mystery introduction" and were thought to have been put in the pond about 18 months ago.

Dorset Council said the goldfish were caught and rehomed to "better suited ponds"

Rangers will monitor the pond to keep any further goldfish numbers under control.

The pond forms part of the Thomas Hardy visitor centre at Thorncombe Woods, an ancient woodland near Hardy's cottage.

Hardy, whose works include Jude the Obscure, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd, is one of England's most acclaimed novelists and poets.

He was born in Dorset and lived in the county for much of his life before his death in 1928, aged 87.