FISH in the River Foss may be starved of oxygen because of a severe drop in water, anglers claimed today.

Water levels dropped on Wednesday after an Environment Agency contractor accidentally lowered a sluice near the Foss Barrier.

City of York Council was later asked to release water from Pond Head Reservoir to filter into the river. This was expected to reach York some time today.

But residents and anglers are worried fish may die first.

Doug James, who lives in the Huntington Road area, said he thought the river had lost at least four feet of water. "I've seen the levels low before, but I've never seen them this bad," he said.

"Losing that amount of water is quite a lot for the Foss. The fish were gasping at the top and they looked like they were really suffering.

"I've lived along here for 30 years, but I've never seen it as bad as this. All the banks were littered with rubbish and the lilies looked bedraggled."

Another angler, who did not wish to be named, said he was worried the water was too low to fish in.

An Environment Agency spokesman said fisheries staff had been monitoring the fish population and would continue to do so.

He said: "Although levels are low we expect no major problems with the fish in the river."

He added the sluice was back to normal and river levels were starting to rise.

Bob Hutchinson, secretary of York and District Amalgamation of Anglers, said fish could probably survive for about a week in low water.

"We have some concerns for the fish, but I'm sure the problem was caused accidentally and the Environment Agency will be doing everything they can to rectify the problem," he said.

"Fish are quite resilient and they don't tend to die straight away."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "We started to release water from the Pond Head Reservoir onWednesday, at the request of the Environment Agency. It will take some time for the water to run down in to the city, so there will be no immediate change in the river level."

Updated: 10:41 Friday, September 02, 2005