Dead fish have been spotted in the canal in Oxford.

Jasmine Flather saw dead fish littering the water in the canal close by to Hythe Bridge Street.

The county has recently been experiencing soaring temperatures and the Environment Agency has urged the public to report any sightings of fish in distress.

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Oxford Mail: A dead fish spotted in the canalA dead fish spotted in the canal (Image: Jasmine Flather)

Ms Flather told the Oxford Mail: “Littering the canal surface is a large collection of dead fish all different sizes.

“They float and are fly ridden in the foul merky water.

“When I reported it to the Canal and River Trust, they said they had received a huge number of reports on the same issue.”

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The Canal and River Trust recently said emergency action was being taken by authorities to help suffering fish in the Oxford Canal after oxygen levels dropped.

Oxford Mail: Lots of dead fish have been seen in Oxford's canalLots of dead fish have been seen in Oxford's canal (Image: Jasmine Flather)

The trust has been working alongside the Environment agency to install emergency aerators and pumps to put more oxygen in the water.

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Oxford Mail: The Environment Agency has been working to help save the fish The Environment Agency has been working to help save the fish (Image: Environment Agency)

The trust has described the issue as “unprecedented” and for only this week alone the agency has reported that its fisheries officers have saved thousands of fish in responding to 27 significant incidents in the southeast.

The warm weather can be highly dangerous for fish as it triggers algal blooms which strip dissolved oxygen levels out of the waters.

This can lead to fish becoming stressed and dying.

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Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times. 

He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.

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