INVESTIGATIONS are being carried out at Forge Mill Pool after shocked residents reported seeing dead fish floating in the water.

The Advertiser was also contacted by several concerned readers who noticed fish floating on the surface of the pond, near Forge Mill Needle Museum.

Redditch Road resident John Walford said he had noticed the fish on his daily walk past the pool.

"Something is killing them off - there's a large number of dead ones and they're big, not tiddlers," he said.

Another resident said flocks of seagulls were gathering in the area, picking off the dead fish.

Forge Mill spokesman Rachael Hope said inspectors from the Environment Agency had been out to do tests and although the source was unknown, pollution had leaked into the water.

"Wherever it's from, it's leaked down into our mill pond - we shut off the water supply but unfortunately it was too late," she said.

"We've got quite a few dead fish and some are large ones - they're some of the older ones we've had for several years.

"Obviously the fish have not all died and we're hoping some are more hardy than others - but it's a real shame."

Peter Crankshaw, from the Environment Agency, said: "We went out and there were about 500 fish - nearly 200 roach and about 300 sticklebacks .

''We took water samples and are investigating," he said.

"Last Friday, we had another report of dead fish and we went out but the water was clear."

He said the fish which people had seen more recently may have been left from earlier in the month but investigations were continuing.

"I understand it's near an industrial area but we are waiting for reports back on the water samples we took," he added.