ANGLERS are facing thousands of pounds worth of fines following a blitz on illegal fishing on Canvey.

The Environment Agency teamed up with Canvey Town Council’s community warden, Jess Fisher, last weekend as part of a crackdown on people fishing without a licence at Canvey Lake, in Denham Road.

Officers spoke to ten fishermen at the site and found six of them were fishing without a valid licence.

They were given with offence notices and could now be taken to court and face fines of up to £2,500 each.

A town council spokesman said: “The town council welcomes people fishing at Canvey Lake, but they need to find out what is required of them and follow the law.

“It is an offence to fish without a licence and procedures will be followed to look into these individual cases.”

Although two-thirds of the waterway is covered by a nofishing zone, anglers can fish at the eastern end of the lake, providing they are over the age of 12 and have a rod licence.

This comes after Castle Point Council, with the Environ-ment Agency, issued new fishing restrictions at Smallgains Lake after almost 100 fish were illegally transported there from Canvey Lake. Last year, the Environment Agency checked over 80,000 licences and prosecuted over 2,700 licence cheats.

For more information on rod licences and penalties for unlicensed fishing, visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk