An angler decided to rescue fish he had found "gasping for oxygen" in a bog in Grimsby, after he was told that neither the Environment Agency nor the council could help.
Stephen Gayfer rode past the bog between Wybers Wood and Lacey Acres where he discovered hundreds of distressed fish. Some were already dead on the bank, near a spot where local families go to feed the ducks, while others were gasping at the surface.
He called the Environment Agency but was told there was nothing they could do because it was owned by the local council and there's a policy not to move fish from landlocked water to avoid the spread of disease.
When he contacted North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC), he was told they didn't have the resources to deal with it, so Mr Gayfer – a keen angler of 40 years – went home to get a net and bucket and started to transfer some of the bigger fish into the River Freshney (pictured above).
Mr Gayfer told the Grimsby Telegraph he was disgusted by the EA's refusal to take action: "There were fish dying in the water and any angler worth his salt couldn't just sit back and watch that happen," he said.
"It was very distressing to see all those fish like that and young families walking past shouldn't have to see that.
"Anglers pay £27 a year to them for a licence, so I would expect them to at least try to save the lives of fish when an incident is reported to them."
Mr Gayfer estimated the bog was a metre lower than in previous years, due to the drought, and the fish had become overcrowded as a result, leading to an oxygen shortage in the water.
Since then, NELC has rescued some of the fish with the help of an emergency movement order from the EA. The fish were released into water at Cleethorpes Country Park.
A spokesman for the EA said: "We don't interfere with privately-owned land but the situation was getting desperate so we contacted the council.
"They did not have the facilities to deal with the problem but hired a private contractor to transfer the fish, as the water would usually be connected to the River Freshney."
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