Concerns over River Tees fish stocks after barrage fault

Some fish were stranded by the water level which quickly dropped in the the River Tees

An angler has described how he spent hours trying to rescue floundering fish after a "mechanical failure" at the Tees Barrage.

The Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT) said two of the four gates at the barrage failed and an investigation was under way to prevent it happening again.

It led to water levels dropping.

The fisherman said he believed a number of fish had died although the Environment Agency said it had not yet received reports of dead fish.

Angler Ben Crossan said he spent hours trying to rescue fish and said he found many dead ones

Ben Crossan who is a member of Thornaby Angling Association said: "I was driving over the A66 when I noticed how low the river was and so I stopped and waded in to try and scoop up the fish.

"I used my net to walk them into the deeper water but I've never seen anything like it before, even in the summer due to a lack of rain, I've never seen the river level so far down."

The 28-year-old, who has been fishing since his aunt introduced him to the sport as a child, said he had called the Environment Agency as he was worried about the impact on fish stocks.

"All in all I reckon I saw about 100 dead fish ranging from very small around 2in (5cm) long to others that were about 10lbs (4.5kg)."

He said he walked to the fishing pegs at Bowesfield and found the water level "was down by about 6ft (1.82m)" on Tuesday afternoon.

The impact could be seen at the River Leven at Ingleby Barwick with spawning grounds affected

The river, which is home to roach, dace, pike and perch, is currently closed to fishing for spawning.

Stephen Bell noticed the low levels on a private stretch of the Leven at Ingleby Barwick.

He said: "I fear this could lead to problems. As well as fish potentially being displaced out of the system some of the areas were fish historically spawn had almost run dry."

Large areas of river bottom were exposed at Thornaby

Water levels had risen by the early hours of Wednesday and the CRT which operates the Tees Barrage, which controls the flow of the river, said it was investigating how the mechanical fault happened.

CRT regional director, Sean McGinley said: "Rest assured we'll fully investigate this and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"The ecology of the River Tees is important to the trust and its fish populations are healthy. The Trust has not had any direct reports of fish mortality following the reduction in water levels that occurred this week."

The fault resulted in canals like this one at Thornaby drained of water

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "We have not received any reports of dead fish in the area.

"We would ask that members of the public report this to us on 0800 80 70 60 so we can investigate further."