Only days after many fish were found dead in a Staffordshire lake, thieves have taken essential life support equipment.
Madeley Pool was recently hit by agricultural pollutants, resulting in rapid response from locals who struggled to catch up surviving fish and rescue them in whatever water containers they had, including bath tubs and swimming pools according to one report, and buckets and paddling pools according to another.
Despite this, an unknown volume of fish remains in the pool, and generators connected to powerful oxygenators were set up on the periphery. However, by Saturday morning, someone had stolen one of these.
"I don’t know why someone would want to take it and we urge them to leave it somewhere we can find it," commented Madeley Pool Angling Club chairman, Ralph Parsons.
The Environmental Agency eventually concluded that the event was triggered by a spill of agricultural silage. It is still to be assessed however, whether the spillage was accidental, or whether reckless behaviour was a factor. The presence of silage would have fast stripped any oxygen from the pond, resulting in a rapid onset of mortalities.
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