'Worrying’: Improvement works at Hornchurch lake ‘won’t prevent’ future fish deaths

The issue of dead fish floating to the surface of Harrow Lodge Park lake has been recorded multiple times over a number of years, with Havering Friends of the Earth (Havering FoE) co-ordinator Ian Pirie saying the group discussed it with the council back in 2017.

As recently as last month, several residents posted images of dead fish in the lake on social media.

Here, rubbish was also pictured in the lake and affecting the local wildlife (Image: Steve Window)

Previous instances were caused by misconnected pipes - incorrectly attached to a surface water drain - resulting in dirty water washing into the lake and deoxygenating it.

Havering Council’s spokesperson told the Recorder: “Misconnections likely played a part in what happened [in August], and we are in contact with Thames Water to see how we can work with them on preventative steps.”

Thames Water disputed this, with a spokesperson saying it had found “no suggestion of foul water entering the watercourse at any point”.

“The impact on the fish was attributed to extreme temperatures which resulted in a naturally occurring dissolved oxygen crash within the water," they said.

Mr Pirie said the different accounts is “worrying, to say the least”.

Co-ordinator of Havering Friends of the Earth, Ian Pirie (Image: Ian Pirie)

When asked what it is doing to prevent future incidents, the local authority's spokesperson said contractors are currently completing a lake improvement project, including clearing out the silt lagoon and eastern lake.

However, they said while the work will benefit the lake, it “won’t prevent the oxygen levels crashing because of extreme weather and flash flooding”.

Mr Pirie said: “It is also worrying that the council doesn’t seem to be able to say how to prevent any more such events, especially as spells of high temperature are likely to be more frequent in future.”

Adding that “sticking plaster remedies like dredging for silt do not seem likely to stop these die-offs", he suggested Havering should consider calling on an expert ecologist for advice.

The council spokesperson said in addition to the improvement works, it is continuing to monitor the oxygen levels, which are currently back to normal.