THIS was the shocking scene as up to 50 fish were found dead at the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council.

Reverend Dave Southall, who is the lead chaplain at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, was saddened to see the fish had died and presumed that it must be related to the recent heatwave.

The council confirmed it was due to low oxygen levels in the water due to lack of rainfall.

He said: "I was walking to work and I noticed that the first lake had about 40 or 50 dead fish in it.

"I'm an angler myself and although there is no fishing at County Hall ponds I always look in to see if there is any activity.

"One of the large fish was about a pound and a half.

"I assumed the hot weather accounted for it and the lake is so low I guess the fish had been starved of oxygen in the heatwave.

"I wondered who was responsible for moving all the dead fish."

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: 

“Unfortunately, there are a number of deceased fish in the lower lake at County Hall.

"We believe this is due to lower oxygen levels in the water because of the lack of rainfall in recent weeks.
“We are in the process of arranging the removal of the fish and our colleagues in property services will continue to monitor the situation.”