A GROUP of angry anglers have spoken out after poachers were seen stealing fish from the Central Park lake.

Members of the group claim long fishing lines have been left in the lake and to have seen poachers illegally removing fish from the water.

Aidan Skinner, 20, of Chelmsford fishes at the lake nearly every day.

He said: “I’m quite fed up. We just catch them and let them go again, absolutely no-one takes them out if the lake but there has been a lot of poaching going on in the Central Park.

“Anglers have been down there themselves to ‘police’ it and they have been seeing long lines in the water with baited hooks and people down there retrieving the lines with fish on the end.

“This illegal fishing has been happening a lot and is destroying the lake’s ecosystem.”

Sir Simon Burns met with the group of anglers on Sunday to discuss the matter.

He said: “Fishing illegally and poaching is an offence and is apparently a growing problem in the area.

“I fully appreciate the concerns that were raised with me and have written to both Essex Police and the Environment Agency to find out what more the police will do to enforce the 1968 Theft Act when illegal anglers are caught red handed and what the Environment Agency is prepared to do to help tackle this growing problem.”

An Environment Agency spokesman, who said they have had 12 calls about the issue since May 16, said: “We are currently investigating reports of alleged poaching in Central Park Lake, Chelmsford.

“Anyone fishing illegally can expect to be prosecuted and face a fine of up to £2,500 and up to £50,000 for bylaw offences.”

“Last year, the Environment Agency checked over 62,000 rod licences and prosecuted more than 1,900 anglers for rod and line offences resulting in fines and costs in excess of £500,000.”

He added the agency visited the site on May 20 and will continue to do spot checks.

A city council spokesman said the council had reported the illegal fishing to police and urged others to do the same using incident number 374 (17 May).

She said: “Officers are sifting through CCTV footage for any evidence.”

Illegal fishing can be reported to the Environment Agency on 0800 807060.