MYSTERIOUSLY low oxygen levels are being blamed for the deaths of hundreds of fish in a Worcestershire canal.

The fish were spotted floating in the Stourport Canal, off York Street. It follows an incident two weeks ago when a small number of fish were found dead in the water near the same spot.

Jessica Campbell, Environment Agency spokeswoman, said: “On that occasion, we discovered a few dead fish in the canal, but could not see any other fish in distress.

“We tested the oxygen levels in the canal and found that they were normal.

“However, this week we received multiple reports of fish in distress and dead fish in the canal. We attended immediately and found oxygen levels in the canal to be extremely low.

“The low oxygen levels were localised to a few hundred metres of the canal.

“The lock was operated a number of times to move fish into the large basin below the lock and the oxygen levels in the canal recovered over the next couple of hours.

“Oxygen levels have remained at normal levels ever since.”

It is believed several hundred fish died in the incident.

They have been cleared away by staff from the Canal and River Trust (formerly British Waterways) and experts from the Environment Agency and the River Trust are jointly investigating the possible cause of the low oxygen levels.