A FISHING competition is being held on the River Tees next month as pollution problems of the past are forgotten.

The Water Industry Coarse Angling Championships is an annual contest for teams of anglers employed by various sectors of the water industry.

The 25 teams will include staff from the Environment Agency, the country's ten main water companies and British Waterways. They will compete on Saturday, September 7 on the stretch of the Tees from the A66 Tees Bridge up to Preston Park.

Each competitor's match fee will be donated to local junior angling clubs to help promote the sport to youngsters.

Environment Agency team leader and match co-ordinator John Shannon said the event also celebrated the vast improvement of the River Tees over the past decade.

He said: "Ten years ago this part of the Tees was virtually dead, with very few resident fish. Now, after hard work by the agency, Northumbria Water and industry to improve the quality of discharge, the river has now come back to life and supports a thriving fish population.

"The completion of the Tees Barrage in 1995 created a 22 kilometre uniformly deep stretch of river upstream, which was previously tidal and polluted.

"As a result, over recent years there has been a very dramatic rise in its fish population and it is now regarded as one of the north's premier river fishing venues."