A TEMPORARY ban on all coarse fish movements on the River Weaver and Trent and Mersey Canal has been lifted by the Environment Agency.

The ban had been ordered in July, following the death of around 350 carp.

But following a period of no significant deaths the ban has now been relaxed.

Despite tireless efforts by the Environment Agency to obtain and analyse hundreds of samples taken from fish, no single cause has been identified for the large number of carp deaths.

The agency believes the evidence indicates that an infectious disease agent may have been the cause of the deaths.

The organisation is now appealing to anglers to take steps to avoid this happening again.

Team leader Graham Fitzgerald said: "It's possible that any disease causing these deaths may have entered the river system from the illegal stocking of fish.

"We are reminding anglers and the general public to be extra vigilant so that fish are not moved from one site to another.

"Transferring fish between waters without permission is not only illegal but can also cause diseases to spread rapidly."

He added: "In order to reduce the risks of any diseases passing from one water to another it is advised that any fishing equipment is properly disinfected or fully dried out - preferably in sunlight - before it is used again at a different angling venue.

"This should be adopted as an ongoing part of any good fishery management procedure."