Fish pollution death toll rises

More than 15,000 fish have died in the canal

More than 15,000 fish have been killed in a Greater Manchester canal.

About 4,000 fish were found dead in the Rochdale Canal between Saturday and Wednesday but this figure has almost quadrupled in the last 24 hours.

An investigation is under way into the cause of the pollution and samples of the water and dead fish have been taken for analysis.

Roach, perch and pike were found dead in the canal between Bradgate and Failsworth.

It is thought that all the fish died on Saturday but that more bodies were discovered as they floated to the surface along a one-and-a-half-mile stretch of the canal.

British Waterways is carrying out an investigation to try to establish the cause of the pollution and workers have been at the scene to help remove and dispose of the dead fish.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "We do not yet know the cause or the source of pollution as there was not any evidence of odour, substance or other material in the canal.

"However, we believe the pollution occurred sometime on Saturday.

"We are keeping an open mind as to the specific location of where the pollution happened and are appealing for anyone who saw anything of a suspicious nature along the canal to contact our incident hotline."