Rangers at Trent Park are stepping up patrols to keep poachers at bay.

Fishermen who use the park's lake say poachers have been targeting the area for some months, stealing large quantities of fish from the water which is widely regarded as one of the best fishing spots in the borough.

The fishermen are now calling on the council to enforce tighter controls and rangers have been put on alert to stop quantities of fresh water fish including tench, perch, pike and carp from being stolen.

Fisherman Dave Gibson said: "I have seen people poaching about a dozen times and they are spoiling it for everyone else.

"Last week five tench were stolen from the river, they weigh between five and six pounds and take a long time to grow that big.

" It is not the first time I have caught people doing it. People have also tied fishing lines to trees and left the lines in the water overnight. They come back the next day and take the fish.

"The police don't seem to want to come up here and there are no signs to tell people it is illegal to fish without a license. I just wish the council would put some signs up."

A council spokesman said the park rangers had been notified of the problem and would be stepping up patrols and working closely with fishermen and park users to gain information.

He said: "We are not aware of this problem but are grateful to the Independent for bringing this to our attention. We try to be vigilant over these sorts of issues but we are reliant on park users or fishermen to come forward with information and, as yet, no one has come to us with any such reports.

"Our rangers will now be speaking to regular anglers in parks to gather more information and we will be stepping up ranger patrols to keep an eye on things."

April 30, 2003 11:30