Oxygen drop causes dead fish and 'revolting' smell

Residents of a town say a "total lack of care and maintenance" of a pond caused scores of fish to be washed up dead in the water.

Moat Pond in East Grinstead, West Sussex, suffered an oxygen crash on Friday, leading to the death of up to 200 fish.

Mr White said the dead fish had caused a "revolting" smell and claimed proper maintenance would have avoided the problems.

A spokesperson for Mid Sussex District Council, which maintains the pond, said it was "committed to maintaining and improving the condition of our green spaces".

Mr White said: "Families come here to picnic and was a thriving place during the Covid-19 pandemic for people to exercise.

"A lot of generations have watched it go through its best times but now it is going through one of its worst times.

"There's a total lack of care and maintenance. If that was followed we would have avoided this catastrophe."

An oxygen crash occurs when levels of oxygen in a body of water rapidly deplete, leading to the death of fish.

Mr White said he first reported the problem on Friday and had returned to the site each morning since.

A council spokesperson said officers first visited the pond on Thursday, when it was found to be in a "good condition", but had since heard from residents about the dead fish.

The council added that contractors had since removed the dead fish and cut back vegetation.

An EA spokesperson said fish had died due to "decaying weeds" causing oxygen levels to drop.

Mid Sussex councillor Julie Mockford said she was "disgusted" by the incident and called current maintenance "woefully inadequate".

An Environment Agency spokesperson said it was "continuing to provide guidance" to the council.

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