Hundreds of dead fish found at historic Scottish loch in 'shocking' discovery

The dead fish, which appeared to be roach and are indigenous to the loch, were found by members of the public and the Historic Environment Scotland (HES) rangers in Linlithgow Loch on Monday morning.

Both the rangers and members of the public alerted Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

The cause of the incident is not yet known, but investigations are ongoing.

Pollution issues at the loch were highlighted again on Monday when scores of dead fish were found. Picture: NatureScot

Images published from the loch have shown dead fish located close to the outlet pipes from the nearby Kingsfield estate.

Tom Lambert, Linlithgow Loch Fishery secretary, described the discovery as “shocking”.

He told the BBC: "A toxic substance must have come down the pipe as it's killed all the young roach sheltering at the outflow. A lot of members of the public don't realise if they put things down drains it can end up in the loch."

A HES spokeswoman said: “Our rangers became aware of the situation and notified Sepa.

“The incident looks to be isolated to an inlet on the south east of the loch, around the Springfield drains.

“However, a wider inspection of the full loch will be undertaken.

“As a precaution, we would advise members of the public to avoid the area in question while further investigations take place.”

The discovery comes just a fortnight after the third in a series of meetings was held in Linlithgow Burgh Halls to discuss loch pollution, with the events organised by Lothians MSP Lorna Slater.

Ms Slater said: “This fish die-off event will be very distressing for local people, but won’t come as a surprise. The situation is, however, deeply concerning.

“High levels of pollution in Linlithgow Loch have been a subject of worry for years and progress to identify the sources of the pollution and put in place measures to clean up the loch have been frustratingly slow.

“This is just the latest pollution event in the loch. However, it seems sad that the loss of nature because of this contamination event will be one of the worst for some years.

“I have been working alongside local residents, councillors, campaigners and the statutory bodies who are responsible for the loch, including HES, Sepa and Scottish Water, to put in place actions to reduce the pollution and ultimately to restore Linlithgow Loch.

“I have been holding public meetings in Linlithgow every six months to update the community on progress, and would invite anyone who is interested to join us at the next meeting.”

A Sepa spokesperson said: “Sepa received reports of a number of dead fish found in Linlithgow Loch on Monday and officers attended the site the following day.

“We continue to work with partners as we investigate potential causes.

“We would like to thank those who submitted reports and encourage anyone who is concerned about a potential pollution incident to contact Sepa as soon as possible via the Pollution Hotline on 0800 807060 or by submitting a form online at sepa.org.uk/report.”

Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop has also been working to try to combat the ongoing issues with pollution at the loch.

She said: “I’ve been working on the issues relating to Linlithgow Loch for a number of years and expect to meet HES to discuss these in the coming weeks.

“I share my constituents’ concerns in relation to these reports and will keep them updated on the responses.”