More than 30 fish have been found dead at a popular Canvey lake.

Fish were spotted across the banks and floating on the waters edge at the lake, which runs at the bottom of Denham Road, Canvey, earlier this morning.

Jazmin Dilliway, who uncovered the "shocking" discovery during her early morning stroll with her son Oakley, has never seen anything quite like this during her whole time living on the island.

It is not yet known what caused the fish to die, or how long they have been dead for, but Canvey Town Council have banned fishing until further notice due to very low oxygen levels in the lake.

The 26-year-old, explained: "It was about 7.30am when I was walking with my little boy at the lake, we go there every day where he loves feeding the ducks.

"We first saw a few turned over in the water, and the more we walked along the more we could see. When they turned over I realised they were fish.

"All in all I spotted about 30. My little boy loves them and kept wanting to go over to see them, but he's only two-and-a-half so he doesn't understand. I had to just tell him they were sleeping, it was quite upsetting.

"You see one or two dead every now and then, but I've never seen anything like this before and I've lived on Canvey my whole life."

Echo:

Jazmin and her son Oakley

This comes as Basildon Council transferred 15,000 litres of water from Gloucester Park to ponds in Markhams Chase on Tuesday, after also seeing fish die in the midst of the UK heatwave.

Officers have been removing dead fish and transferring some of the remaining fish to the second pond in Markhams Chase in conjunction with advice from the Environment Agency.

Fire crews have also helped top up ponds across the borough in a bid to save the dying fish.

Council staff will be constantly monitoring the situation over the coming weeks, with more water planned if the heat wave continues.

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Jazmin is now calling for urgent action to resolve the issue- a problem which other islanders have claimed isn't unfamiliar to Canvey.

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Fire engine spotted at Canvey Lake this morning

Jazmin continued: "The water on top looks a bit slimey, it's green and there's foam, so I'm not sure if the bacteria in the water isn't right or what it is.

"It certainly wasn't what I expected when we left the house- we go to the lake basically every day, if not every other day, especially since we've been able to get back out again.

"There were fishes at the waters edge, on the banks and lots still in the water.

"I saw a man down there this morning who said they were going to be removed, but I'm not sure which organisation he was from. I think they were putting them in black sacks.

"I've had people say to me it happens every year but I haven't ever seen it this bad. Something needs to be done to stop it."

The find has been reported to the Environment Agency, who have been contacted for comment.

Essex Wildlife Trust: 'This is a common problem'

Mark Iley, Landscape Conservation Development Manager at Essex Wildlife Trust, said: "Sadly this is a regular problem during period of hot dry weather. Warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen so fish struggle to breathe, which is compounded by low water levels and low river flows.

"Also after storms when large amounts of water and organic debris and sometime oil and other pollutants are washed into watercourses and waterbodies this can also lead to a dip in dissolved oxygen as bacteria and algae bloom on the nutrient input and use up available dissolved oxygen.

"This is an issue that the Environment Agency works to address and will aerate rivers during periods of low flow and poor oxygen levels. If a member of the public sees dead and or gasping, dying fish they should immediately call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”