CONCERNS for wildlife have been raised after 15 fish died in the past week in a Southend lake.

Colin Nickless raised his concerns after noticing fish consistently dying in the lake at Southchurch Park, in Northumberland Crescent, in Southend.

Echo:

The Labour candidate for Southchurch, who has a background in aquatics, said: “I first noticed around a week ago a dead fish in the water.

“Sometimes when the temperature gets a bit warmer, you get the odd fish dying, because they’re cold blooded, so sometimes their metabolism doesn’t cope.

“When you start to lose more than one, usually there’s a problem. I’ve now seen about 12 to 15 dead in the past week.”

Southend Council was notified by Mr Nickless and the authority confirmed an investigation had been opened.

He added: “Since first notifying the council and posting multiple times on social media, there are now even more dead.

“I worry about the luminous green tint of the water. I suspect a chemical has been added, maybe algaecide to kill the algae.

“The water should have been diluted. If it’s chemical poisoning killing the fish, deaths could’ve been prevented. If any are left, they could be saved by diluting the water.

“It’s distressing and extremely sad, I saw a little child pointing to the dead fish and showing it to their mum.

“If these are toxic chemicals the council weren’t aware of, this should be investigated, animals are suffering.”

He added: “A duty of care of the people involved is there to stop these animals from being harmed.

“Maybe these fish aren’t supposed to be there, if so, the council should transport them to somewhere where they are supposed to be.”

Councillor Lesley Salter, Southend Council cabinet member for healthy communities and wellbeing, said: “Since the problem was reported, our park wardens have been and will continue, monitoring the lake, we have also spoken with the Environment Agency.

“The water is not an unusual colour, and there could be many reasons for the fish dying.

“This week five carp have been removed, and while it is sad and unfortunate, may be simply part of nature.”