VISITORS are to be banned from feeding bread to ducks on a park lake.

Middlesbrough's Victorian Albert Park has recently received a £4.4m facelift and part of the package of improvements was a major clean-up of the 140-year-old lake, which was suffering from falling oxygen levels.

Park staff are becoming increasingly worried about the amount of bread that gets thrown to the ducks and geese on the lake.

Much of it is not eaten and can lead to the growth of poisonous algae as well as making the lake look and smell unpleasant.

In future, families will be able to buy duck food at the park. However, anyone heading for the ducks over the weekend with bread can swap it for a free bag of duck food.

Park manager Stuart Johnston said: "We don't want to be killjoys, but the bread is a problem. We also have to think of other groups who use the lake, such as anglers and boaters.

"On a busy summer's day there can be rafts of uneaten bread floating on the surface of the lake because the ducks have eaten as much as they can, but people still try to feed them. Discarded bread wrappers don't decompose and can remain in the environment for many years. The uneaten bread could also attract rats and other vermin as well as making the place look untidy.

"People need not worry about the ducks going hungry - there is plenty of natural food in the lake itself."

Cleaning the lake became a race against time to save the fish population, which was suffering because of falling oxygen levels.

The Environment Agency helped the work with a £5,000 grant to Middlesbrough Council, which owns the park. The money is being used towards restocking the pool with thousands of roach and carp.

A spokesman for the council said people were being discouraged from feeding the ducks.

"You are not going to be able to stop people feeding the ducks, but it's part of an education process. Often, the ducks are full and people still throw bread in the water. A lot of money has gone into that lake and water quality is important for the eco-system."