Swans and several thousand fish die amid Kent pollution incident

A pollution incident has killed several thousand fish in Kent, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

About 3.7 miles (6km) of a stream known as Sarre Penn and the adjacent River Wantsum, near Canterbury, have been affected, it said.

The agency said specialist officers were at the scene and it was working to establish the source of the pollution.

Johnny Allen, a volunteer at Kent Wildlife Rescue, told the BBC he had recovered three dead swans from the area.

The EA said it was investigating whether wildlife other than fish had been affected by the pollution.

Mr Allen said the source of the pollution was unclear as the water had no odour or colour.

“Has someone dumped something? The river runs under a road. Has something discharged from a vehicle and its got into the water system? I don’t know,” he added.

He said the dead fish were bottom feeders like carp and tench, indicating the pollution may have been on the riverbed.

“Something’s not quite right,” he continued.

Mr Allen said Kent Wildlife Rescue was working to find and log dead animals with the authorities, though he said their capacity was limited as they needed more volunteers.

In the meantime, he was concerned about people, especially young children, becoming “distressed” if they saw dead or dying swans, and keen that dog walkers and people that went fishing were alerted.

The Environment Agency said conditions in the stream were “improving” and that it had taken samples.

It urged anyone with information about the incident or suspected pollution to get in touch.