A BANK holiday blitz on anglers who do not hold rod licences uncovered 26 offences.

Bailiffs carried out their first crackdown of the season by visiting 39 locations in County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland.

A total of 1,224 checks were carried out and revealed a bankside evasion rate of only 2.12 per vent compared with 6.9 per cent nationally.

Fisheries enforcement team leader Kevin Summerson, of the Environment Agency, said: "Anglers are becoming more aware that if they fail to buy a licence then they are cheating themselves by reducing the amount of money we can put back into the sport.

" We now have one of the lowest evasion rates in the country and the success of the bank holiday blitz reinforces this.

"I want to congratulate anglers on their good record."

Angling is a major tourism industry in the North-East and every year thousands of anglers visit the region for the salmon and trout fishing.

The River Tyne is regarded as the best salmon river in England and Wales, with some stretches producing more than 50 salmon a day.