AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after about 20 dead fish were found in a pond in Blackbird Leys.

Experts say Spindleberry Pond has suffered from the hot weather, but residents expressed concern about the amount of rubbish being thrown into it.

Sarah Grant, from Long Ground, Blackbird Leys, walks her dog past the pond twice each day.

The 43-year-old said: “It has only been in the last week when I first noticed it.

“I’ve complained about the rubbish being dumped in the pond and the stream before and I have even gone over there myself and picked bits out.

“It is such a shame. I am angry because it is a nature reserve but it’s a health issue as well because people take their children there.

“If anybody fell in there is so much rubbish in there that I dread to think. The smell is horrendous.”

As well as seeing plastic bottles, household bins and bicycle wheels in the pond in Spindleberry Nature Park, Ms Grant said she had seen someone pushing a shopping trolley into the stream.

She called for more bins and better signs to stop people dropping litter or other rubbish in the pond.

Park rangers from the city council visited the site on Tuesday.

Brian Lester, the vice-chairman of Blackbird Leys Parish Council, was at the park as rangers removed the dead fish, which included chub and perch.

He said: “The park rangers removed more or less 20 fish. They do the best they can.

“The problem isn’t the pond, it’s the people who chuck stuff into it. It’s a fantastic little site but people abuse it.”

A spokesman for Oxford City Council, the body responsible for the 30,000 square metre park, said: “We are working with the Environment Agency to resolve the issue with the fish at Spindleberry Pond.

“We have been experiencing high temperatures with little or no rainfall, which is having an effect on the water levels and oxygen levels in the pond.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said the authority was aware of the problem and was investigating.