AN environmental activist is so fed up waiting for Anglian Water to replace fish it killed in a massive sewage leak he plans to do it himself.

The company was ordered to pay £15,000 towards restoring a stretch of the River Crouch, where it passes through Wickford Memorial Park, off Runwell Road, after pleading guilty to killing more than 1,000 fish with a sewage leak in August 2009.

Anglian Water claimed a power cut shut down its sewage pumping station, off Runwell Road, Wickford. It was said at the time about £3,000 of this fund would be spent on re-stocking the fish, but nothing has been done.

Roy Hart, from the Crouch Conservation Trust, plans to buy 3,000 fish for the river.

He said: “I’m sick and tired of Anglian Water’s delays.

“I think it will only cost me a few hundred pounds to replace all those fish.

“In my opinion, it’s in its interest to keep the river barren, so it doesn’t kill hundreds more fish and get in more trouble through leaking sewage.”

The water company has since been accused of letting sewage to seep into the Crouch from Southlands Farm pumping station, in Wickford.

Dog walker Andy Newell, 34, from Wickford, spotted leaks in August and on October 22.

A spokeswoman from Anglian Water, said: “It is for the Environment Agency to decide what money is spent on, be that fish or other environmental improvements.

“We do respond to alarms at Runwell pumping station immediately and now have a back-up generator available, should power be lost for longer than three hours. This is well within the retention limit of the wells on site.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said a meeting had been held with Anglian Water and others to discuss ideas for the £15,000 penalty.

He added: “Once restoration work has been completed, further fish surveys will be carried out and fish restocking will be undertaken if appropriate.”