THE OWNER of a riding school today spoke of his heartbreak after thousands of fish he bought were wiped out by a spillage of farm slurry.

Mr Les Banner, proprietor of The Stables, Mill Lane, Great Harwood, said he had spent five years clearing the banks of Hyndburn Brook, which runs through his land.

He bought trout for the river and has been working closely with the National Rivers Authority in an attempt to improve the region for anglers and country-lovers.

Mr Banner worked with the Environment Agency at the weekend helping to clear dead trout, chub and minnows from the river banks following the spillage. The Agency were today still investigating the source of the pollution, which affected a five kilometre stretch of river, from Rishton to where it meets the River Calder, on Friday at about 10pm.

Residents were warned not to eat any of the contaminated fish after people were spotted taking them from the river banks.

Mr Banner said: "I was just devastated when I heard about the pollution spillage. It was heartbreaking for me to see the fish lying on the banks of the river and there was nothing I could do about it.

"It is also five years of work clearing and improving the river that have been wiped out. The spillage will have a knock-on effect as well. Insect life has been killed and there are also kingfishers in the region."

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said today: "This is a very serious pollution incident. We are investigating the source of the spillage and, in due course, we may be taking legal action."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.