Canal fish ‘killed by chemical spill’

THOUSANDS of dead fish in the Rochdale Canal are believed to have been killed by a chemical spill.

Environment Agency scientists have taken water samples from part of the canal stretching more than one and a half miles from the Broadgate Business Park, near the Boat and Horses in Chadderton, to Failsworth.

They are now being tested and results could be known by early next week.

An agency spokeswoman said: “Given the fact that plant life is also discoloured, it indicates that this is a chemical substance.

“It was found over a 1.6-mile stretch of the canal which was quite significant, from the Causeway bridge at Broadgate to the first locks at Failsworth.”

The fish were spotted on Sunday by local dog walker John Carter, of Sycamore Avenue, Chadderton.

He had seen a few dead small fish on Saturday, but when he took his spaniel Koffee out on Sunday he was horrified.

He said: “I could tell right away something was wrong.

“On Saturday I thought they were tiddlers that someone had thrown back, but on Sunday it looked like there were thousands of fish, including pike up to three feet long.

“My dog usually has a drink from the canal but he never went near the water.

“I phoned the Environment Agency and met a representative who came from Warrington. He was very concerned and said it is effectively a dead canal.

“The ducks have left, and there are still one or two moorhens but if they start eating the fish like the seagulls which are coming down they could be poisoned.

“The dead fish are also collecting in the canal basin near Morrisons.”

The Agency spokeswoman confirmed that the dead fish included roach, perch, tench, bream and pike of all sizes.