THE bosses of a company which supplies fish for anglers have been landed with almost £4,000 in fines and costs after introducing fish to a lake without permission.

Max Bond and Tim Watts of Ipswich-based Framlingham Fisheries both pleaded guilty to breaching regulations when they put rudd, bream, crucian carp and roach into Rodbourne Lagoon, Swindon, in March and April.

The offences came to light when, weeks after the restocking of the water, which is controlled by the Raychem Angling Club, there was a massive increase in the number of fish deaths in the lake.

Janet Frederick, prosecuting, told magistrates that the deaths could not necessarily be blamed on the new fish, many of which had not passed health checks before being put in the water, but that the offences were discovered during an investigation of the causes.

Magistrates fined both men £840 for each offence with £2,000 costs totalling £3,360 in fines plus £400 costs.

The chairman of the bench said the men had failed to get the relevant documentation for the carp, which had been ordered by the angling club, and the bream.

In letters sent to the court both men said that the offences were 'mistakes' as the company handled 1,000 Environment Agency forms a year.