OBSTRUCTIONS which for decades have prevented fish moving freely along two waterways are to be removed after Government funding was announced.

More than £500,000 has been awarded by Defra to the Wear Rivers Trust to carry out work on the River Deerness and Old Durham Beck, near Durham City.

The three-year project, a partnership involving Durham University and Durham County Council, will see obstacles removed from the rivers, opening up an extra 26km of waterway to the fish for spawning.

It is hoped the money will increase the fish population in the Deerness and also investigate the number of fish in the beck, both of which are tributaries of the River Wear.

One obstruction, a bridge culvert at Cornsay Colliery on Hedleyhope Burn, has already been dealt with.

The new funding means a further three obstacles can now be resolved. Fish passes will be created at Ushaw Moor and at a weir near Broadgate Farm, while a ford crossing, also near Broadgate Farm, will be replaced with a boxed culvert crossing.

The grant will also allow for feasibility studies to be carried out on another three obstructions on the Deerness, two bridges at Holebeck Wood and another at East Hedleyhope, for possible work over the next two years.

As part of the project, Durham University will carry out research into fish behaviour on the stretches of river and the effectiveness of the measures being taken.

Steve Hudson, Project Officer for the Wear Rivers Trusts, said: "The Deerness is another industrial stream which is on its way to recovery through post-industrial reclamation.

"We are very excited about such a key environmental project, which will help repopulate sections of river which have become cut off or wiped out by barriers and pollution incidents".