Lake's water quality to be discussed by council after more wildlife deaths

Walter Smith is concerned about the state of the lake at Brooklands Pleasure Park

A number of cygnets have been removed over the last few weeks as well as a cob, a seagull and a duck.

The council will now discuss the water at Brooklands at a full council meeting on Tuesday October 25 at 6.30pm.

The deaths of the animals in the lake are thought to be as a result of botulism - a fatal disease caused by toxins.

This comes just a matter of weeks after reports of the death of two birds found in the same lake last month.

In that time, a petition was launched by local resident, Walter Smith, appealing to the council to do something about the hazardous water in the lake.

Mr Smith, 68, has received over 1,500 signatures, prompting Worthing borough council to discuss the quality of the water in a full council meeting.

Mr Smith has asked residents to attend the meeting and to voice their opinions.

He said: “The public are allowed to attend, so I am appealing to all those with an opinion on the lake to go along and express their views to the council.

“In an ideal world, we could encourage the council to drain the lake and completely fix the problem for good.

“At the moment, it is a yearly problem with birds dying due to the algae that is created when it’s nice and sunny.”

In the last three weeks, three cygnets have been removed from the water with apparent eye problems - a symptom of botulism.

Two of the cygnets have since died and one is recovering in a wildlife hospital.

A duck and a seagull have also been removed from the water by animal rescue charity Wadars as well as a cob, but all later died.

Tracy Cadman, operations manager at Wadars said: “We think the cob may have died as a result of botulism.

“We can’t know for sure at the moment but the vet agrees with me on this view.”

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.