Anglers urged to avoid swan lake

Discarded hooks and line pose a threat to swans

Anglers are being warned to stay away from a Teesside pond to help protect the swans living there.

Hartlepool Council chiefs have made the appeal amid fears discarded hooks and fishing line could threaten the birds Warrior Park estate in Seaton Carew.

Environment Agency officials were last year called to remove fish released illegally into the pond.

Anglers have been asked to instead use the lakes at Rossmere Park and Ward Jackson Park for fishing.

David Frame, the council's Town Care Manager, said: "The RSPCA has been called out on a number of occasions in the past to help birds tangled up in discarded line and injured by hooks.

"We asked the Environment Agency to help us by removing fish that had been illegally placed there, but recently there have been reports of more fish being released into the water.

"As a result, we asked the Environment Agency to return and staff did a trawl of the waters to remove fish."