Weymouth: Thousands of fish reportedly poisoned in lake

Thousands of fish are reported to have been deliberately poisoned at an angling lake.

Dorset Police was called to Harbour Bridge Lakes in Chickerell, Weymouth, at 07:15 BST on Good Friday.

Officers said a contaminating substance was alleged to have been poured into the water.

The Environment Agency said it had been made aware of a fish kill and officers had taken samples which were being tested.

Police said a contaminating substance was alleged to have been poured into the water

Mr Roper said the deaths started with smaller fish but larger specimens were now being found

Lakes owner Jim Roper said he estimated that 4,000 fish had died.

"We estimate that we burned over 3,000 fish on Saturday," he added.

"I have found about 30lb (14kg) of dead fish today, including three fish that weighed about 25lb (11kg) of that.

"The biggest carp, about 10lb (5kg), was on the bottom, close to the bank, so was easily retrieved. This makes me think that most of the carp are dead on the bottom."

Mr Roper said a Muscovy duck had died after eating a dead fish, while a large number of black-headed gulls had disappeared after picking up dead fish floating on the water.

He said he expected test results from both the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the Environment Agency soon.