A BAN on fishing on the Bridgewater Canal has been relaxed by the Environment Agency.

The temporary ban was brought in earlier in the summer following the deaths of around 350 carp on waterways across the region.

Many were found dead on the Bridgewater Canal.

But Environment Agency chiefs say that as there has been no significant deaths for a significant period, the ban has been lifted.

Graham Fitzgerald, fisheries and recreation team leader at the agency, in Latchford, 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."

The agency says the evidence indicates that an infectious disease agent may have caused the deaths.