THE Environment Agency has stepped in to help fish navigate their way along one of North Yorkshire's rivers.

The agency has designed a stainless steel chamber to help fish get through the pass at Westwick Weir, on the River Ouse, near Ripon.

Migratory salmon and trout are able to climb the pass, near the Newby Hall Estate, without difficulty, but coarse fish struggle at times of low flow.

The chamber bolts on to the bottom of the stone pass during the spring, allowing all fish to navigate the weir.

Two years ago, work was carried out to make it easier for salmon to get upstream to their spawning grounds.

The entrance at the top of the pass was changed and modifications were carried out to change the water flow route.

Fisheries management officer David Bamford said: "The numbers of salmon and sea trout using the fish pass so quickly after completion was beyond our expectations."

He said they would be monitoring how well the chamber worked. If it proves successful, the technique will be used elsewhere.