An Ashford man says a mystery leak into his fishing lake has poisoned dozens of his beloved carp.

Lee McAdam bought the private lake in Knock Road, South Ashford, last year but noticed his fish were covered in peculiar ulcers and then turning up dead.

The 58-year-old fisherman said he enlisted the help of an aquatics expert who did some tests on the minerals in the water and discovered the fish were poisoned by detergent.

Mr McAdam estimates he’s lost around 70 fish, some of which are more than 40 years old, since he discovered the problem.

He said: “It feels like every day we lose more fish, we have just taken two more out.

“We started noticing them in the shallows with white marks on them, they’re like ulcers and they look absolutely terrible.

“Then they get stressed, which causes more problems and they turn up dead.

“They’re really lovely looking fish and it’s horrible to see them like this and in distress.”

Mr McAdam, who is retired and a member of the Angling Trust, paid £147,000 for the 28ft deep lake in September 2015.

But by improving security, putting up fences and installing oxygenating equipment in a bid to protect the carp, he estimates he has spent a further £50,000.

He said: “It’s not about the money. Yes it’s expensive but I’m just so frustrated nothing has been done about it.

“I’ve contacted the Ashford Borough Council (ABC), Kent County Council (KCC), the Environment Agency, Southern Water and nothing changes.

“The fisherman who use the lake said they have had this problem for years, even before I bought it, and no one has done anything about it

“I don’t regret buying the lake. Years ago I was one of those 13-year-olds who used to jump over the fence and fish there illegally, so it was a bit of a nostalgic thing.

“But I’ve had so much aggravation with all this and it is disheartening that if feels there has been nothing but problems.

“We don’t want to see the fish die. The fisherman are practically in tears because it means that much to them.

“I just want something done about it. I want to know who’s responsible and stop me being passed around like a hot potato.”

Kent County Council are responsible for road drains but Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has a duty of enforcement or getting relevant responsible parties to fix misconnections.

An ABC spokesman said: “We are not responsible for the drainage in question, but have been working with Southern Water using relevant powers to ensure that properties connected to the surface water sewer rectify any drainage misconnection.

“This work remains the responsibility of the owner of the relevant property, who we understand has rectified the identified issue.

“We will continue to support Southern Water with reference to any further drainage misconnections that they identify and need our assistance to resolve.

“We can confirm that we have recently been made aware of a further property and will be considering what action may be necessary.”

KentOnline has approached KCC, the Environment Agency and Southern Water for a comment.