AN ANGLING club has set up a fundraising campaign to tackle the issue of otters depleting their fish stocks.

Brighouse Angling Association hopes to raise £2,500 towards installing an otter fence around their lakes, including Brookfoot Lake in Brighouse.

Members noticed last year that they were losing fish with no visible signs of disease. And in the last six months they say they have been “plagued” by otters from the nearby River Calder.

Keen angler and committee member Kyle Hemingway has set up a Just Giving page and so far more than £750 has been raised towards their total.

In the appeal, he states: “The otter attacks have become more prevalent in the last month. With lake depths of three to 11ft with bars and islands it really makes it easy pickings for our furry visitors to catch our fish stocks especially with the cold months being here and the fish slow down.

“As a result of this we are now looking to install an otter fence to the perimeter of our three lakes. We feel this is the best way forward for the future of our fish stocks and club.”

He said the fishery consisted of two small ponds and one main lake with three islands.

“Over the last few years we have overcome many issues following the devastating Boxing Day floods in 2015. We are a small club with limited funds, and while we will do everything we can to fund these works we really do need help towards funding these works, materials and plant machinery hire needed to do the job in hand.

“We have a lot of volunteers from the club who are willing to use their free time to install the fencing but we really need all the help we can get towards costs.”

Mr Hemingway told the Telegraph & Argus that the cost of a fence around the whole perimeter would be around £15,000 and the club had already found half the money.

They were also hoping to receive about £5,000 from elsewhere, including an application for grant funding from the Angling Trust.

The angling club was founded in 1928 and there are around 750 members, fishing perch, carp, roach and bream from their waters.

To donate, visit the club’s Just Giving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brookfootlake.