Anglers in Swindon are appealing for £100,000 to be raised after a mysterious pollution incident led to the deaths of thousands of fish.

Environment Agency staff launched an investigation into the fish deaths at Peatmoor Lagoon last week.

Some form of pollution caused a sudden drop in oxygen levels in the lagoon where hundreds of people fish every day.

Swindon Advertiser: Casey Slade has been helping with the massive clean-up.Casey Slade has been helping with the massive clean-up. (Image: Casey Slade)

Now a week on, the Peatmoor Angling club are none the wiser about the cause but having seen the devastation, have set up a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising £100,000.

Casey Slade from Toothill is a committee member at the club and has been helping with the cleanup following last week’s shocking incident.

“I was working as I do a lot of driving around the country but my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing and I was in total shock and I did not know what to say when I saw it,” he said.

Swindon Advertiser: The incident happened at Peatmoor Lagoon.The incident happened at Peatmoor Lagoon. (Image: Dave Cox)

“This has really deeply upset me and we have been going down there ever since, grafting and cleaning up the mess and running the aerator.

“It will cost well into the tens of thousands of pounds to solve this problem because although the fish were not exactly expensive, the sizes they had grown to were perfect.”

The 25-year-old has been hooked on fishing since the age of eight years old but has never seen anything like this before.

Swindon Advertiser: The majority of the lagoon's fish died as a result.The majority of the lagoon's fish died as a result. (Image: Casey Slade)

“We have had minor issues in the past but we have never had something as bad as this,” said Casey.

“It has been a huge loss as we have lost most of what we have put in there over the last 40 years.

“The ecosystem is struggling from it and it has hurt the local community to see this type of thing happening, especially when it is caused by pollution.

“The initial clean up in terms of dead fish is just about done but now it’s a matter of aerating the lake so that the remaining fish stay healthy.”

Swindon Advertiser: The angling club are looking to raise £100,000 following the disaster.The angling club are looking to raise £100,000 following the disaster. (Image: Dave Cox)

All that the club knows is that the pollutant was organic, with Thames Water visiting the site to run tests.

The water company confirmed that the pollution was not from their network, but offered its support to the Environment Agency.

Thame Water has also arranged for the outfall grill to be cleaned and cleared of any debris.

If you would like to help, the angling club’s GoFundMe page can be found here: https://bit.ly/3Qz3n1W.