Oxford canal: Weather blamed after fish found dead

Extreme weather has been blamed after a number of dead fish were found in the Oxford Canal in Banbury.

Experts say the fish suffocated after a drop in the water's oxygen levels due to torrential rain on Monday.

Members of Banbury boatyard called it an "environmental disaster" after seeing "thousands" of dead fish.

The Canal and River Trust is investigating and a spokesperson said the issue was "affecting aquatic life in rivers across England".

The dead fish started to appear on Monday evening after heavy rainfall

The Environment Agency has urged people to get in touch if they find fish in distress.

Matt Armitage, director of Tooley Boatyard in Banbury, said thousands of dead fish started appearing after heavy rainfall.

He has been working on the water for more than 30 years and said the "horrendous" scenes were the "worst ever seen".

The sight of scores of dead fish has been described as "horrendous"

Mr Armitage explained: "Normally the water is quite clear, you can see the bottom of the canal and fish floating about, it's now dark black and there are literally thousands of [dead] fish. It's an environmental disaster."

Carl Hughes, an environmental scientist from the Canal and River Trust, said: "It's caused by a bit of a perfect storm really, if you excuse the pun.

"Due to the thunderstorms, we have quite low pressure systems at the moment and a lot of the oxygen that tends to be within the water - that dissolves in the water - is lost.

"So when you get these low pressure systems, and it's really high temperatures in the water and in the air, the oxygen is less likely to stay in the water and you can get really low oxygen concentrations."

A Thames Water spokesperson said it was "aware of an issue which has affected the local fish population".

They added a discharge point in Banbury feeds into the River Cherwell rather than Oxford Canal and this area had "not seen any sewage discharges in the last 48 hours".