A FIVE year plan is underway to help restore the River Leadon to its original state, following the severe pollution incident which took place last year, in the Dymock area.

Last week a total of 2,580 chub and 1,818 dace were stocked at three locations on the River Leadon, “to aid the recovery of the river.”

This bring the total number of fish re-stocked so far to almost 20,000, and close the number of fish that perished due to the pollution last summer.

Around 21,000 fish perished in the incident which took place in July 2016, and the Environment Agency have described the pollution as “one of the worst pollution incidents on a water course in the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area in the last 10 years”.

But because of an ongoing investigation, the Environment Agency says it is still unable at present to give any further information about the causes of the pollution.

Chris Bainger, a spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We are working hard to restore the River Leadon to its original state following the pollution incident last year and have prepared a five year plan to restock the river with fish.

“Over 15,000 roach and dace have already been restocked to aid recovery and an additional 4,000 chub and dace last week.

“These fish have been provided by our fish farm in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. We also plan to restock brown trout in the coming weeks to allow the local angling club to continue with their sport while native stocks recover.”

The fish that were restocked into the river were supplied by the Environment Agency’s fish farm in Calverton, Nottinghamshire.