The heatwave is being blamed for the deaths of thousands of fish over at the lake at Marston Park near Frome, with the owners saying they have tried to save the stocks.

Visitors have been shocked by the sight of thousands of fish dying or already dead and rotting on the shores of the lake.

The owners posted : "We believe it has been caused by a combination of the very shallow water, the silt, algae blooms and a sharp drop in oxygen levels overnight. "

The posted their own photo of the dead fish on their social media page on Thursday (August 25).

But the owners of Marston, who describe it as "A playground for creativity with grown up food & drink" have been accused of not doing enough to prevent the tragedy. Locals say they had been warned that they needed to increase the levels of oxygen in the lake, and also they are using the tragic deaths as part of their campaign to 'save' the park. Marston Park insist they have been in touch with the Environment Agency who have confirmed that fish being killed by the high temperatures is not unique to the area just outside Frome.

Owners Michael Fenna and Charlie Bonham-Christie, have for years been in dispute about planning application for the park and lake . They have plans in for a change of use of 31 hectares (77 acres) of Grade II Listed Park and Garden including Marston Pond, Thickthorn Wood, Orrery Wood to leisure and tourism use; to include the restoration and use of the Keeper's Cottage and Boat House as holiday accommodation; the building of 20 holiday Lodges, Reception and Hub building (housing a cafe, bar and restaurant, meeting rooms, spa and gym). Details of that under 2017/2814/FUL.

The have a very public and very vocal on going campaign to get planning permission, saying that they will have to close Marston Park on the 3rd October 2022 "to go through the process of gaining planning approval, so that we can reopen next spring 2023 and finish what we have started." Their campaign is calling for signatures to save the park and is here: https://marstonpark.co.uk/savemarstonpark/

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Opponents claim they want to build a centre parcs like development which will destroy the natural habitat and create a noisy, busy holiday camp with light pollution.

Marston Park is a man-made designed landscape created in the 1800s which includes a 25 acre lake, although a fifth of that lake has now silted up.