EXPERTS are in a race against time to save important fish stocks.

Icy temperatures and heavy rain hampered efforts to remove thousands of bream, roach, carp and tench from the silted-up lake in Middesbrough's 140-year-old Albert Park earlier this year.

Their removal is essential before work can begin on a £4.4m facelift of the park, beginning with its Victorian lake.

The fish need to be rapidly removed to temporary lodgings, in nearby Hemlington Lake, because the start of their breeding season is imminent.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "Basically, the course fish in the park are going towards the breeding season. It is a stressful time for them, they are very fragile. Many of them die just as a result of spawning, let alone anything else going on.

"They are being taken out now so they have time to find their fins. They do not want two stresses, one on top of the other, because they are in a fragile enough frame."

The residents of the park lake, are being removed from the unhealthy pool, which is to be drained, cleaned out and restored in a two-year programme.

The first phase, costing about £1.25m will be completed by next March and as well as the restoration of the lake, there will be improvements to access points to it.

The Environment Agency has consented to Middlesbrough Borough Council emptying the water from the lake into Marton West Beck.

Water will be pumped from the north end of the lake in a supervised operation.

The council said all necessary precautions will be taken to ensure that the silt at the bottom of the lake is not disturbed, though the lake will not be totally drained dry.

Ron Thompson of Middlesbrough Angling Club said the lake used to be the best still water fishery in the North-East.

"This project will re-establish that popularity, making Middlesbrough one of the major angling venues in the country, offering a range of fishing opportunities at both lakes."

A skating rink and work on a new teenage play area are included in the package of improvements at the park